"I'm sure the first thing comes in this man's mind is to sue the crew and airlines for being antisamatic"
Probably for being antisemitic too. Were this story about anyone doing anything other than praying, it would not have made headlines. The mere intonation that there's a story here is enough to make news agencies pick it up.
You can't disregard FA instructions, period. That's the law. This includes things like praying. Being highly religious doesn't make what he did any better than the jerk sitting up front using his/her phone after the FA has instructed that all electronics be turned off.