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 religious affairs, charging that he replaced the usual “Prayer is better than sleep” dawn call with “Prayer is better than Facebook”.

Ministry official Sabri Ebada told AFP the incident happened on Saturday and confirmed that the imam 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.

Lately, thousands of imams have been relieved of their duties, and a common sermon for mosques nationwide has been introduced for Friday prayers, with the ministry deciding on the theme every week.