The conference was dedicated to the 65th anniversary of the birth of Kadyrov’s father, Akhmad Kadyrov, the first President of Chechnya.

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’aris and Maturidis, but not Wahhabis or Salafis. It condemned Salafism and Wahhabism as “misguided” sects, along with extremist groups such as ISIS, Hizb ut-Tahrir, the Muslim Brotherhood and others.

The conference definition stated:

“Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama’ah are the Ash’aris 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.”