CAIRO — An Egyptian muezzin has been
suspended by the authorities after being
accused of intoning "Prayer is better than
Facebook" in his early morning call for people
to pray.
The action was taken against Mahmud Al-
Moghazi, who denies the charge, after devout
Muslims complained that he had altered the
traditional call to prayer, an official told AFP on
Monday.
Villagers in Beheira province north of Cairo
reported Moghazi to the Ministry of Awqaf, or
religious affairs, charging that he replaced the
usual "Prayer is better than sleep" dawn call to
the faithful with "Prayer is better than
Facebook".
Ministry official Sabri Ebada told AFP the
incident happened on Saturday and confirmed
that the muezzin had since been suspended.
"The case will be referred to the prosecution
service which will see that the law is applied,"
Ebada said.
Moghazi appeared late on Sunday on a private
television channel and denounced the
accusation as "lies".
He accused the Islamist opposition Muslim
Brotherhood of being behind it, saying the
group wanted to "get me out of the mosque"
for obstructing its activities.
"I forbid any group to use the mosque, I forbid
unauthorized courses" in religion, he said,
adding that he had begun a hunger strike in
protest at his treatment. — AFP
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