Tariq Masood
Tariq Masood (; born 1975) is a Pakistani Islamic scholar who teaches at the Jamia Tur Rasheed seminary in Karachi. He has authored books including "Aik se Za'id Shadiyoon ki Zaroorat Kyu". Personal life. Background. Tariq Masood was born in 1975 to an ethnic Muhajir religious family in Sargodha migrated from Saharanpur to Karachi during the Partition of India. Early education. He attended local schools in Karachi, and later joined Sindh Muslim Science College but before completing college, he left and joined the religious seminary Jamia tur Rasheed. Marriages. His first marriage occurred in 2005. His second occurred in  2008. His third occurred in 2018. Career. Masood follows the Deobandi movement of Hanafism. He is a lecturer at the Jamia Tur Rasheed in Karachi. Tariq Masood has authored several books including "Aik se Za'id Shadiyoon ki Zaroorat Kyu" ("Why the need for polygamy") and "Family Planning". Rivalry with Muhammad Ali Mirza. Tariq Masood has had a long rivalry with scholar Muhammad Ali Mirza. The debate between both scholars is particularly about Muawiyah, the First Caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate. Mirza challenged Masood to arrive in Jhelum and have a debate face to face. In May 2021, the debate was  postponed since Masood didn't come in After many months, Masood finally accepted the challenge and went to Jhelum for the debate. However, Masood claimed that he had tried to make contacts with Mirza, but there was no answer. Masood claimed that he took a very long journey from Karachi to Jhelum for discussion. Views. Standing up to China. In July 2019 Masood learned that some Chinese companies in Pakistan did not allow Muslim employees to perform daily obligatory prayers during working hours. Masood urged employees to tell their Chinese employers that "they'll have to follow local laws and  the country does not belong to them." Masood said, "People are afraid that they will lose their jobs." An old video of Masood saying this surfaced on social media on 26 June 2020. COVID-19. During the COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan, the Government of Sindh announced a lockdown on 22 March 2020. Muhammad Taqi Usmani (of Jamia Darul Uloom, Karachi) announced on 25 March 2020 that people should still congregate for prayers except for those over fifty, young children and people with COVID-19 symptoms. Masood disagreed with Usmani by supporting a ban on congregational prayers. Masood said: "We still don't  understand the intensity of this virus. You can pray at home during this time and ask Allah for forgiveness and health." On 7 April 2020, Masood took part in a BOL Entertainment programme to give people religious advice on COVID-19.