Aroj Ali Matubbar

Born: December 17, 1900

Died: March 15, 1985

Aroj Ali Matubbar was a self-taught philosopher and apostate of Bangladesh. His original name was Aroj Ali, and he only acquired the name ‘Matubbar’ (meaning ‘village landlord’) later.

He was born in British India on 17 December 1900 (Bengali year 1307) in the village of Lamchari in Charbaria union, about 11 km from Barisal town, currently in Bangladesh. He was born to a poor farming family. He studied for only a few months at the village maqtab (an Islamic primary school), however, this brief dabbles in institutional education centred only on the Quran and other Islam studies. He gathered most of his knowledge on varied subjects, including science and philosophy, through his readings and research.

Matubbar was little known to the elite educated society of the country during his lifetime. His first book, published in 1973, was rich with secular thought but caught little attention. It is only in the final years of his life that he came to be known to the enlightened society of the country. His writings were collected and published after his death. People in general started to take an interest in his books, which, although reflecting an untrained mind, posed a number of intriguing questions. He soon rose to eminence, albeit after his death in 1985.