Adel Nasr, spokesperson for the Salafi Call, an influential Salafi group, said in a statement on Monday that remarks by columnist Fatma Naout that Muslims acquire their faith “by coincidence”, and that humans have the right to select their religion, were against the Constitution.

Nasr said that "Humans, once created by Allah, are congenitally Muslims,” but also stressed that Islam does not compel humans to adopt it.

Fatma Naout responded that all humans are born in a family with a certain belief system and that her statement refers to all faiths, not Islam only.

Naout has been at the center of several religious freedoms controversies over the past few years, some involving writings that are critical of the Islamic code of dress, as well as other rituals.