Facebook mention during call to prayer sparks outcry
by Daily Sabah with AP
ISTANBULSep 02, 2015 - 12:00 am GMT+3
by Daily Sabah with AP
Sep 02, 2015 12:00 am
Egyptians were outraged on Sunday after a cleric allegedly changed a line in the traditional Islamic call to prayer to mention Facebook. Instead of reciting al-salaatu khayrun min al-nawm (prayer is better than sleep), which is said twice during the dawn prayer, Sheikh Mahmoud Maghazi of Beheira province allegedly said: al-salaatu khayrun min al-Facebook (Prayer is better than Facebook). The incident drew nationwide attention when he defended himself on one of Egypt's most-watched television talk shows, "10 p.m."
The talk show highly influences public opinion in Egypt, where a quarter of the population is illiterate. The Religious Endowments Ministry ordered an investigation after locals complained last week, senior ministry official Mohamed Abdelrazik said. Maghazi protested the investigation by going on a hunger strike and denying that he made modified the prayer. "I don't know what Facebook is and I don't know how it is spelled," Maghazi swore to the silver-haired host of "10 PM," Wael el-ıbrashy. Maghazi went on to charge his accusers with being members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood group. He said they were trying to remove him from the mosque because he would not allow them to hold protests and organize unlicensed Islamic lessons on the property. Mosques have been closely monitored as part of the security crackdown on the Brotherhood and its supporters following the military overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
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