Egypt’s Al-Azhar Islamic Center issued a Fatwa (religious edict) stressing that harassment of coronavirus patients is Haram (religiously forbidden). IQNA reported.

The Fatwa, issued on Saturday, also bans insulting those who have lost their lives due to COVID-19, Arabi21 website reported. The Fatwa underlines the need for respecting dignity of human beings both in life and after their death.

It came after people in a village in the Arab country prevented a physician who had died from coronavirus to be buried in the village’s cemetery. They believed burying the body would cause the spread of the disease in their village.