Aroj Ali Matubbar

Aroj Ali Matubbar was a truly homegrown philosopher without any formal academic training -he had not, in fact, attended any institution of higher learning. Yet, after his death in 1985, Aroj Ali Matubbar came to be regarded as one of the most brilliant rationalists the country has over produced, and as an iconoclast who was not afraid to speak out against entrenched beliefs and superstitions which easily lead to religious fanaticism. A practicing Muslim himself and a pious man throughout his life, Matubbar took it as a mission to strike at the roots of all superstitions and fanatic half-beliefs, and thereby restore the balance between science and religion. It was a difficult task no doubt, especially in a country with low literacy where there is practically no tradition of informed debates on dogmas, creeds, beliefs and religion. Matubbar's books are probably the first such attempts to introduce enlightened discussion and debate about a number of ideas and issues that have exercised the minds of religious philosophers and ordinary followers of Islam over the ages.

Matubbar was born in the Bengali year 1307 (corresponding to 1900 A.D.) in a poor farming family in the village Lamchori in Charbaria union, about 11 k.m. from Barisal town. His father did not have any land, and after his death, Matubbar had to look after his mother and his younger sister. He had practically no schooling, because he had to work to fend for the family's upkeep. He embarked on a program of self- teaching, borrowing books from the libraries and from individuals interested in education. Through hard work, Matubbar was able to improve the family's material condition; he acquired some land, began farming himself, and, with the spare money, bought books. By the time the 1961 cyclone hit his house and blew it away into the river Kirtankhola, his personal library had several thousand books. All the books were lost.

Aroj Ali Matubbar befriended a number of scholars and academics of Barisal town --noted among whom were Professor Kazi Golam Kadir and Professor Muhammad Shamsul Haque, and through then, a number of others. Their encouragement and patronage helped him publish his books-- which were always in danger of being banned by an over- sensitive government. Matubbar was arrested and taken into police custody for his The Quest for Truth. Throughout his life, he was subjected to harassment and threat for his writings-much of which rattled religious institutions and religious fanatics. But to a large number of his readers, his writings were -to use a cliche -a breath of fresh air in the stifling atmosphere of bigotry, zealotry and religious intolerance.

Matubbar's other main work besides The Quest for Truth, is The Mystery of Creation. Professor Muhammad Shamsul Haque suggests that these two books are like a pair of eyes. Matubbar, incidentally, had donated his eyes for transplantation after his death. He had also written a series of other essays dealing with religion, philosophy and ethics. He also left behind some manuscripts of some unfinished work, including one on his philosophy of life. Aroj Ali Matubbar died on the 1st Chaitra of the Bengali year 1392 (1985 A.D.).

Credit : Pathak Shamabesh, Dhaka.