The "fatwa" sparked outrage and embarrassment, with critics deriding the author on Egyptian television. The university suspended the lecturer, who headed the university's "hadith" department. The "fatwa" was widely publicized by Arabic-language satellite television channels and was discussed in the Egyptian parliament. After being threatened with disciplinary action by the university, Atiyya issued a retraction, saying the "fatwa" was "a bad interpretation of a particular case" during the time of Muhammad and that it was based on the opinions of only a minority of scholars. Egypt's minister of religious affairs, Mahmoud Zaqzouq, has called for future "fatwas" to "be compatible with logic and human nature".