Aroj Ali Matubbar

Aroj Ali Matubbar (Bengali: আরজ আলী মাতুব্বর; 17 December 1900 – 15 March 1985) was a Bangladeshi self-taught philosopher and rationalist. He was known for his critical perspectives on religion, superstition and traditional beliefs in his writings.^[1]

Early life and education

Matubbar was born in the village of Charbaria Lamchari, about 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) from the city of Barisal in British India, now Bangladesh,^[1] to a poor peasant family. His original name was Aroj Ali; he later adopted the name Matubbar (meaning “local landowner”). He studied for only a few months at the village maqtab, where he focused on the Qur’an and Islamic studies.^{[citation needed]}

Matubbar lost his father at a young age. When he was 12 years old, his inherited plot of 2 acres (8,100 m²) of land was auctioned off because he could not pay land taxes as a minor. He was later evicted from his ancestral homestead by a local usurper. Matubbar survived through charity and by working as a farm laborer.

He could not afford to attend school and relied on free maqtab religious instruction at a local mosque. He did not accept the rigid learning methods, and therefore left the mosque. A benefactor helped him finish the Bengali primers. Matubbar continued to read extensively after that. Philosophy was the subject that interested him the most. A philosophy teacher at B M College, Kazi Ghulam Quadir helped him borrow books from the college library.