The controversy surrounding prayer at a restaurant in Mall of Arabia, Egypt, has escalated after a legal expert filed a report with the Public Prosecutor accusing three women of forming an extremist group and targeting the economy.
The incident stems from an altercation that occurred at one of the restaurant’s branches in Mall of Arabia in 6th of October City, after a woman had requested a place to pray inside the restaurant.
According to the report, the branch manager informed her that there was a designated prayer room within the mall, located a short distance from the restaurant.
However, she insisted on praying inside the dining area, leading to a verbal altercation.
The matter then escalated online as details of the incident circulated and calls for a boycott of the establishment emerged.
This prompted legal expert Hany Sameh to file a report with the Public Prosecutor, requesting that the case be referred to the Supreme State Security Prosecution for investigation.
The complaint accused suspect Nada Metwally and two other women of forming an extremist group that, according to complainant, aimed to carry out terrorist activities targeting economic and tourist establishments and harming social peace.
The complainant emphasized that his problem was not with performing prayers as a religious rite, but instead with what he called an attempt to impose religious rules or authority outside the framework of institutions and laws, through online mobilization and calls to boycott the establishment.
He argued that using defamation on social media and mobilizing to boycott a commercial establishment in order to pressure it and force it to adopt specific practices could, according to the legal characterization he presented in the complaint, constitute a form of intimidation and organized pressure that warrants investigation.
These developments come amid continued controversy on social media platforms regarding the incident, which has turned from a dispute inside a restaurant into an issue that has sparked widespread debate about the limits of practicing religious rituals inside public and private establishments, and the right of establishments to organize work within them according to the specified rules.
