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The Muslim cleric was repeatedly beaten with a shoe when an on-air row over the Islamic veil turned violent. The fight broke out live on Egypt's popular LTC TV during a discussion about the place of the burka in the Islamic world. Sydney imam Mostafa Rashid claimed that the headscarf is a cultural tradition rather than a religious duty.

MEMRI Brawl erupted on Egyptian television after two guests battled over Islamic religious law

This prompted an Egyptian lawyer Nabih al-Wahsh to take off his shoe and beat the mufti. The fierce and physical dispute began when the pair savaged each other with personal insults. Mr Rashid is known for his soft attitudes towards religious matters, such as alcohol. Mr Al-Wahsh questioned his scholarly credentials and said: "You said you were the Mufti of Australia and a scholar in Sydney, but there’s not even a mosque in Sydney." He then told his opponent that he was an "apostate". Mr Rashid responded by accusing Al-Wahsh of being mentally ill.

The show’s host cut to a commercial break when the attacks suddenly became physical. Mr Rashid hurled a studio chair at the lawyer's head, while Mr Al-Wahsh removed a shoe and struck him repeatedly. At the end of the fight, Mr Rashid swiftly collected his belongings and left the studio. Presenter Mohammed al-Ghaiti, who asked for the live broadcast to be cut, later apologised to his viewers. Mr al-Ghaiti said a member of the production team was injured in the fight, and a pane of glass was broken.

MEMRI Al-Wahsh removed a shoe, and struck Rashed repeatedly

I never expected that something like this could happen on air Presenter Mohammed al-Ghaiti

He said: "It was a free fight in the middle of the studio. I never expected that something like this could happen on air." The show later replayed the fistfight twice without sound, because the dialogue was so offensive. The video has reached more than 230,000 views on YouTube. Mr Wahsh later accused the imam of “converting to Christianity” in a rant he wrote on Facebook.

GETTY The fight was fueled by the men disagreeing over the use of headscarves