Muezzin sparks controversy by allegedly saying ‘Prayer is better than Facebook’ during call to prayer

A  muezzin is at the center of a national controversy due to allegations he said "Prayer is better than Facebook" during the call to prayer last week, rather than the religiously sanctioned "Prayer is better than sleep."

These charges have landed the muezzin in hot water. The Endowments Ministry temporarily suspended him from issuing the call to prayer in the mosque where he was working and referred him to a disciplinary hearing this week. He may subsequently face dismissal from work.

The muezzin, Sheikh Mahmoud al-Moghazi, has repeatedly denied the claims leveled against him and also announced that a hunger strike on Sunday, to protest the punitive measures taken against him.

Phoning-in on a talk-show broadcast on the privately-owned Sada al-Balad Satellite Channel on Sunday, Moghazi explained, "How could I change the call to prayer after it was formalized by the Prophet Mohamed? How could a humble worshipper alter the recitation of the prophet?"

Moghazi accused Muslim Brotherhood members, who reportedly attend prayers at the mosque where he worked, of spreading these rumors about him.

Moghazi was employed at the Rahma Mosque in the village of Sidi Ghazi  in the Nile Delta Governorate of Beheira until the end of August, which falls under the administration of the Kafr al-Dawwar city municipality.

Moghazi told the anchor that he was relocated to another mosque until investigations on the matter concluded. The talk show host agreed that "prayer is indeed better than Facebook" but continued to ask Moghazi if he issued the dawn call to prayer call using these words, and the muezzin swore that he did not.

On Monday, Moghazi was hosted on the Al-Ashera Masa'an (Ten PM) talk-show, broadcast on the private Dream TV channel. During his interview the muezzin commented, "had the prophet recited these words I would have recited them myself." The muezzin added "I have not altered a word in the call to prayer."

Moghazi insisted that members of the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafis were the source of the accusations against him. He added that Islamists were working against him since he prevented them from using the Rahma Mosque as a platform for their radical political rhetoric.

A local resident named Alaa Sabah, however, phoned-in and insisted that Moghazi had recited the dawn call to prayer as "Prayer is better than Facebook,” three times.

Moghazi responded that he would personally submit his resignation to the Endowments Ministry if Sabah would swear on the Quran to this effect or could present material evidence against him.

The muezzin added that he does not have a Facebook account, nor does he have any message to deliver regarding the social networking site, which has approximately 16 million users in Egypt.

Another caller and local resident named Wael Said similarly accused Moghazi of replacing the word "sleep" with "Facebook" three times during the dawn call to prayer last week. The muezzin replied that Said did not attend prayers at the Rahma Mosque.

The Endowments Ministry spokesperson could not be reached for comment on the disciplinary measures that may be taken against Moghazi.

Following the ouster of the Muslim Brotherhood in the summer of 2013, the Endowments Ministry has tightened its grip on mosques across the country. Since early 2014, mosques, preachers and their sermons have largely fallen under the ministry's control.

In July of this year, the ministry also sacked a prominent cleric because he used his sermons to rail against Egypt's "oppressors." The preacher called some politicians and media personnel modern-day "Pharaoh's sorcerers."