New Brand: Earlier this year, celebrity cleric Maulana Tariq Jamil expressed his intention of launching a fashion brand. Many mockups and images of the logo of the brand popped up around February. After this, the Maulana clarified that he had been praying to God to help him in a venture through which he can fund his madrassas, open new hospitals and schools for the benefit of society. His goal finally cemented yesterday with the launch of the flagship store in Karachi.
Why Did I Launch MTJ Brand?#tariqjamil pic.twitter.com/LPVhwptHbT
— Tariq Jamil (@TariqJamilOFCL) February 21, 2021
He further added that he did not want to run madrassas on zakat anymore as he thought ‘Zakat is only for the needy’. He clarified that this venture is to only support his charitable fund causes and he intends to make no money at this stage of life.
The collection: The store on Tariq Road features a range of easter wear from casual, to formal, to wedding wear. The price range is estimated to be from PKR2000-PKR5000, and a 20% discount can be availed through online shopping.
Initial criticism: Many criticised the cleric for launching a business on the basis of religion. However Maulana Tariq Jamil refuted these claims asking why a religious figure can’t run a business to fund his charitable ventures, adding that many religious people we follow are successful businessmen.
COVID SOP violations: With videos and images popping up on social media, many rushed to criticize the scene as crowds could be seen with 0 social distancing and limited masks.
I respect maulana tariq jamil sahab but why would he do such thing in the middle of a pandemic??? and the weird part is no one took action against this gathering for breaking SOPs.
— Saith Abdullah (@SaithAbdullah99) April 27, 2021
Questions were raised on how COVID-19 SOPs were being violated so openly in the brutal third wave without any repercussions and where the authorities were.
ماشااللّہ۔ کیا ایک سوٹ کے ساتھ کرونا مفت میں مل رہا ہے؟ pic.twitter.com/7SIXnF2XQh
— Amber Rahim Shamsi (@AmberRShamsi) April 27, 2021
People also asked if prominent religious figures are free to break the law and endanger people in the already dangerous pandemic owing to their influence.
Hope he mentions this next time he’s lecturing us on what causes covid https://t.co/q12Wqe8oW2
— Twitt.Arhum (@arhuml92) April 27, 2021