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The [[International Union of Muslim Scholars|International Association of Muslim Scholars]], an organization led by [[Muslim Brotherhood]]-linked Islamist [[Yusuf al-Qaradawi]], reportedly criticized the conference as "a shameful attempt to sow dissent within the Muslim community."<ref name="rferl.org"/>
The [[International Union of Muslim Scholars|International Association of Muslim Scholars]], an organization led by [[Muslim Brotherhood]]-linked Islamist [[Yusuf al-Qaradawi]], reportedly criticized the conference as "a shameful attempt to sow dissent within the Muslim community."<ref name="rferl.org"/>

The Grozny conference left out several prominent Russian Islamic leaders. The heads of the two largest Muslim associations of Russia, [[Rawil Gaynetdin|Ravil Gainutdin]], [[Chairperson|chairman]] of the [[Russian Council of Muftis]] and [[Talgat Tadzhuddin|Talgat Tajudin]], head of Central Muslim Spiritual Directorate of Russia, did not attend the conference.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Vatchagaev|first=Mairbek|date=22 September 2016|title=Chechnya Hosts International Islamic Conference|url=https://jamestown.org/program/chechnya-hosts-international-islamic-conference/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190514212546/https://jamestown.org/program/chechnya-hosts-international-islamic-conference/|archive-date=14 May 2019|access-date=|website=The James Town Foundation }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Yakubovich|first=Mikhail|date=31 August 2016|title=THE CONFERENCE OF ULAMA IN GROZNY: THE REACTION OF THE ISLAMIC WORLD|url=https://islam.in.ua/en/islamic-studies/conference-ulama-grozny-reaction-islamic-world|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180308125805/https://islam.in.ua/en/islamic-studies/conference-ulama-grozny-reaction-islamic-world|archive-date=8 March 2018|access-date=|website= }}</ref> The chairman of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Moscow, Ildar Alyautdinov, also expressed his disillusionment with the resolution of the conference.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Vatchagaev|first=Mairbek|date=22 September 2016|title=Chechnya Hosts International Islamic Conference|url=https://jamestown.org/program/chechnya-hosts-international-islamic-conference/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190514212546/https://jamestown.org/program/chechnya-hosts-international-islamic-conference/|archive-date=14 May 2019|access-date=|website=The Jamestown Foundation }}</ref>


== See also ==
== See also ==

Revision as of 04:24, 30 July 2021

Chechnya Conference International Conference Who are the Ahl al-Sunna?
Date25 August 2016 (2016-08-25)–
27 August 2016 (2016-08-27)
LocationGrozny, Chechnya, Russia
Also known asGrozny Conference
Chechnya Conference
The World Islamic Сonference 'Who are Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah?'
Organized byThe conference was convened by the Shaykh Ahmad Kadyrov Regional Charitable Fund.
Foundation for Chechen Islamic Culture and Education.
Tabah Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Abu Dhabi.
Muslim Council of Elders, a transnational network of Islamic scholars established in 2014.[1][2]
ParticipantsOver 200 Muslim scholars-theologians and religious leaders from various Islamic schools of thought from 30 countries all over the world, including Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Yemen, Morocco, Kuwait, Sudan, Qatar, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Britain, Russia, South Africa, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan[3][4][5][6]
Previous eventSufism: Personal Security and State Stability[7]
Websitechechnyaconference.org

The 2016 conference on Sunni Islam in Grozny was convened to define the term "Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah",[8] i.e. who are "the people of Sunnah and majority Muslim community",[9][Note 1] and oppose Takfiri groups.[11] The conference participants reflected their support for what in Russia is considered “traditional” Islam, i.e , the type of Islam promoted by the Russian government.[12] The conference was held in the Chechen Republic capital of Grozny[13] from 25–27 August 2016, sponsored by the president of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, and attended by approximately 200 Muslim scholars from 30 countries, especially from Russia, Egypt, Syria, Libya, Kuwait, Sudan, Jordan, etc. at the invitation of Yemeni Sufi preacher, Ali al-Jifri.[8][14][15] In response to the widespread criticism received in the Islamic World, Al-Azhar publicly distanced itself from the conference and in mid-October send a high-level delegation led by the senior Azhari scholar, Shaykh Abbas Shouman to Saudi Arabia and reconciled with the Wahhabi religious establishment, including the Grand Mufti Abdul Azeez Aal-Shaykh.[16]

The conference was dedicated to the 65th anniversary of the birth of Kadyrov's father, Akhmad Kadyrov, the first President of Chechnya.[17][18]

The conference was notable for excluding representatives of Wahhabi and Salafi movements, and for its definition of Sunni Muslims in the final communiqué of the conference that included Sufis, Ash’arites and Maturidis, but not Wahhabis or Salafis.[8][9] It identified Salafism/Wahhabism as a dangerous and misguided sect, along with the extremist groups, such as ISIS, Hizb ut-Tahrir, the Muslim Brotherhood and others.[4][19]

The conference definition stated:

“Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah are the Ash’arites and Maturidis (adherents of the theological systems of Imam Abu Mansur al-Maturidi and Imam Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari). In matters of belief, they are followers of any of the four schools of thought (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i or Hanbali) and are also the followers of the Sufism of Imam Junaid al-Baghdadi in doctrines, manners and [spiritual] purification."[20]

Participants

Over 200 Muslim scholars-theologians and religious leaders from various Islamic schools of thought from 30 countries all over the world, including Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Yemen, Morocco, Libya, Kuwait, Sudan, Qatar, Iraq, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Britain, Russia, South Africa, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan.[21][22][4][19][5][6][23]

Among the notable scholars and preachers in attendance were:[24][6][15]

Recommendations of the Conference

Some suggestions came out of the conference, including recommendations to:[22]

  • The establishment of a TV channel in Russia to counter Al-Jazeera, and "convey to people a truthful message of Islam and fight against extremism and terrorism."
  • The establishment of "a scientific centre in Chechnya to monitor and study contemporary groups... and refute and scientifically criticise extremist thought." The proposed name for the centre is Tabsir (clairvoyance).
  • The "return to the schools of great knowledge", such as: (Al-Azhar in Egypt, al-Qarawiyyin in Morocco, and al-Zaytuna in Tunisia, and the Hadramout in Yemen), excluding Saudi religious institutions, particularly the Islamic University of Madinah.
  • Scholarships would be provided for those who are interested in studying sharia to counter Saudi funding in this field.

Criticism

The conference evoked a torrent of condemnation and criticism followed from the Saudi Council of Senior Scholars—as well as Salafis/Wahhabis, and the Muslim Brotherhood—for what they perceived as Russian meddling in regional politics via religion, and the implied condemnation of Salafis as Kharijites, Karramiyya, or deviants.[28][1]

The International Association of Muslim Scholars, an organization led by Muslim Brotherhood-linked Islamist Yusuf al-Qaradawi, reportedly criticized the conference as "a shameful attempt to sow dissent within the Muslim community."[17]

The Grozny conference left out several prominent Russian Islamic leaders. The heads of the two largest Muslim associations of Russia, Ravil Gainutdin, chairman of the Russian Council of Muftis and Talgat Tajudin, head of Central Muslim Spiritual Directorate of Russia, did not attend the conference.[29][30] The chairman of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Moscow, Ildar Alyautdinov, also expressed his disillusionment with the resolution of the conference.[31]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ Sunni Muslims constituted about 85–90% of the world's Muslim population.[10]

Citations

  1. ^ a b "Who Is Sunni?: Chechnya Islamic Conference Opens Window on Intra-Faith Rivalry". The Arab Gulf States Institute.
  2. ^ "The Concluding Statement of the Chechnya Conference" (PDF). chechnyaconference.org.
  3. ^ "The Concluding Statement of the Chechnya Conference" (PDF). chechnyaconference.org.
  4. ^ a b c d "Chechnya Hosts International Islamic Conference". Jamestown Foundation.
  5. ^ a b "Grozny conference challenges the Saudis". Institute of Contemporary Islamic Thought.
  6. ^ a b c "Muktamar Ahlussunnah Wal-Jama'ah (Aswaja) Di Chechnya". Kanglatif.com.
  7. ^ "Islamic State Part Of Western Plot Against Islam, Says Chechen Leader". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
  8. ^ a b c Kadhim, Abbas (2 November 2016). "The SUNNI CONFERENCE IN GROZNY: A MUSLIM INTRA-SECTARIAN STRUGGLE FOR LEGITIMACY". HuffPost. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  9. ^ a b Cervellera, Bernardo (9 June 2016). "Conference in Grozny: Wahhabism exclusion from the Sunni community provokes Riyadh's wrath". AsiaNews.it. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  10. ^ "Mapping the Global Muslim Population". Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  11. ^ Dehlvi, Ghulam Rasool (9 September 2016). "Islamic conference in Chechnya: Why Sunnis are disassociating themselves from Salafists". First Post. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  12. ^ Vatchagaev, Mairbek (22 September 2016). "Chechnya Hosts International Islamic Conference". The Jamestown Foundation. Archived from the original on 14 May 2019.
  13. ^ "مؤتمر الشيشان 2016". tabahfoundation.org. Archived from the original on 13 September 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  14. ^ "Chechen leader slams Wahhabism as anti-Islamic". Press TV.
  15. ^ a b "The Grozny Conference in Chechnya – Is the Salafi Movement a Rotten Fruit of Sunni Islam?". International Institute for Counter-Terrorism.
  16. ^ Barak, Michael (9 November 2016). "The Grozny Conference in Chechnya – Is the Salafi Movement a Rotten Fruit of Sunni Islam?". Archived from the original on 7 March 2019.
  17. ^ a b "Analysis: Grozny Fatwa On 'True Believers' Triggers Major Controversy". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
  18. ^ "At Ramzan's: what is the reason for the Chechnya head gathering Islamic establishment of Russia in Grozny?". RealnoeVremya.com.
  19. ^ a b "The Conference of Ulama in Grozny: the Reaction of the Islamic World". islam.in.ua.
  20. ^ Ghaffari, Talib (11 September 2016). "Over 100 Sunni scholars declare Wahhabis to be outside mainstream Sunni Islam – Chechnya". Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  21. ^ "The Concluding Statement of the Chechnya Conference" (PDF). chechnyaconference.org.
  22. ^ a b "Conference in Grozny: Wahhabism exclusion from the Sunni community provokes Riyadh's wrath". AsiaNews.
  23. ^ "کنفرانس چچن خشم وهابیت را برانگیخت + تصاویر". AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA).
  24. ^ "Over 100 Sunni scholars declare Wahhabis to be outside mainstream Sunni Islam – Chechnya". maktabah.org.
  25. ^ "40 عالما أزهريا يلحقون بالطيب للمشاركة في مؤتمر "أهل السنة" في الشيشان". Alghad TV.
  26. ^ a b https://www.firstpost.com/world/islamic-conference-in-chechnya-why-sunnis-are-disassociating-themselves-from-salafists-2998018.html
  27. ^ "CMO head joins international conference in Chechnya [ PHOTO]". AzerNews.az.
  28. ^ "Saudi Arabia's Struggle for Sunni Leadership". The Cairo Review of Global Affairs.
  29. ^ Vatchagaev, Mairbek (22 September 2016). "Chechnya Hosts International Islamic Conference". The James Town Foundation. Archived from the original on 14 May 2019.
  30. ^ Yakubovich, Mikhail (31 August 2016). "THE CONFERENCE OF ULAMA IN GROZNY: THE REACTION OF THE ISLAMIC WORLD". Archived from the original on 8 March 2018.
  31. ^ Vatchagaev, Mairbek (22 September 2016). "Chechnya Hosts International Islamic Conference". The Jamestown Foundation. Archived from the original on 14 May 2019.
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