Munshi Mohammad Meherullah

Munshi Mohammad Meherullah (1861 – 7 May 1907) He is the first person in history with the title Bangabandhu, and is best known for his oratory and writing on Islam and comparative religion. His efforts have been compared to Raja Ram Mohan Roy's defense of Hinduism against anti-Hindu views expounded by Christian missionaries in India.

Meherullah, upon returning to Jessore District and with his re-converted disciple Shaikh Jamiruddin, adopted oratory method known as bahas (disputation) and sought to refute Christian missionaries. He was able to re-convert numerous Muslims who had been converted to Christianity. He established Madrasaye Karamatia and Islam Dharmottejika Sabha in 1889 at Manoharpur village in Jessore. He contributed regularly to Muslim newspapers like the Sudhakar and Islam Pracharak published from Kolkata.

According to Kenneth W. Jones, no other Muslim preacher contributed to polemical literature in that period. While debating Christian missionaries, Meherullah did not vilify them. He called for intra-communal harmony. Isayee Ba Khristani Dhoka Bhanjan Khristiya Dharmer Asarata (The hollowness of the Christian religion, 1887), Bidhabagavjana O Bisadbhandar (Sufferings of Widows, 1894), Meherul Islam (1897); Hindu Dharma Rahasya O Devalila (1898, 2 editions) Mussalman O Christian Tarkayuddha (Muslim and Christian Debates, 1908; 2 editions). Rodde Khrishtian O Dlaliul Islam

A railway station in Jessore was named after him. Bangladesh published a stamp of face value 2 taka in his honor in 1995. A hall of the Jashore University of Science and Technology is named after him.