Protecting people's lives is major goal in Islamic sharia: minister

CAIRO, March 7 (MENA) - Protecting peoples's lives is one of the major goals in the Islamic sharia, Minister of Awqaf Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa said.

The minister made his remarks during a scientific conference held Saturday to discuss human development in Islam.

He noted that if an epidemic starts to spread, endangering human life, all necessary actions must be taken to protect the lives on human beings, including banning Friday prayer congregations.

However, there is no need to call off any Friday congregations in Egypt so far, Gomaa noted