A video capturing an Egyptian man singing verses from the holy Quran - while people danced around him - sparked intense backlash on social media earlier this week. 

In the footage, the man can be heard singing the words of "Surat Al Fatiha" to the sound of instruments being played live in the background. 

Just hours after it was first uploaded on Facebook, the video angered thousands of Egyptians and Muslims across the Arab world. 

It remains unclear whether the man performing on stage is a Muslim scholar or cleric. 

People were left shocked by the clip

"What's wrong, Egypt?'

"No really, what is this?"

"It shouldn't get to this, they even got to the holy Quran. This truly is the end of the world."

Some were just speechless

"There's no strength or power but in God." 

Many just couldn't even register what they saw

"We've seen a lot of people attack religion but no one has ever seen anything like this. We also never expected that anyone would dare do this." 

Egypt's Al Azhar has since issued a statement on the matter

As the online controversy continues, the online fatwa (religious edict) center of Egypt's leading Islamic institution, Al Azhar, issued a statement denouncing the act seen in the video. 

In their response, Azhari officials said everything seen in the footage goes against Islamic teachings and violates basic rules that govern prayer. 

They also stressed that they stand against such actions and call on Muslims to do the same.