“Come to prayer, come to success…”
Egyptian Salafi MP Mamdouh Ismail Causes Stir by Calling to Prayer in Mid Session (MEMRI)
Transcript below the fold:
Egyptian Salafi MP Mamdouh Ismail Causes Stir by Calling to Prayer in Mid Session
Following are excerpts of Salafi Egyptian MP Mamdouh Ismail calling to prayer in a parliamentary session and rebuked by Speaker of the House, which aired on Sawt Al-Sha’b TV on February 7, 2012:
Parliament speaker: I did not authorize you to do this. We have a mosque. You can call to prayer there.
Mamdouh Ismail: …I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah…
Parliament speaker: Mr. Mamdouh Ismail, when you finish calling to prayer, I will have to speak with you, because you have violated the protocol of this session.
Mamdouh Ismail: …come to prayer, come to success. Allah Akbar, Allah Akbar. There is no God but Allah.
Parliament speaker: MP Mahmdouh Ismail has violated the protocol of this session. He used the time given to him to call to prayer without asking my permission. There is a mosque where you can call to prayer. This hall is for talking. Don’t you patronize us. You are no more Muslim than us. Prayer is no less important to us than it is to you.
Applause
Don’t patronize us. I didn’t permit you to speak again. If you want to pray, I won’t stand in your way. Go ahead… Don’t answer. This place is for discussion, not for calling to prayer.
Mamdouh Ismail: You listen to me…
Parliament speaker: This place is not for calling to prayer. If you want to call to prayer, excuse yourself…
Go and call to prayer at the mosque. This is not the hour of prayer. You are a respected lawyer. Do you need all this attention from the media?
Who are you addressing? All the MPs here want to pray. I did not permit you to speak again. Sit down! Sit down! I
did not permit you to speak again. Sit down! Do not disrupt this session, or else I will take action against you. No, this is not in the constitution.
Sit down, please. Don’t disrupt this session. Are you more of a religious expert than all these people? Do not patronize your brothers in this parliament.
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