Arifur Rahman was born in a small village called Tetiar Kanda in Shahjadpur, Sirajganj, Bangladesh.

[citation needed] When Arifur Rahman was in the Preschool, Arif's father left his wife and children and remarried.

His uncles and aunts helped out by gifting Arif's mother goat and sheep cubs and he used to take care of the cattle when he returned from school.

In Bangladesh, he was famously known as “Cartoonist Arif.” In April 2004, Arif's cartoon was published in the satire magazine, “Bicchu” under the Daily Jugantor.

During 2004–2007, he drew a large number of cartoons for various Bangladeshi newspapers, such as The Daily Jugantar, Bhorer Kagoj, Samakal, Jaijaidin, Amar Desh, Ittefaq and Prothom Alo.

He was recognized by fellow and legendary Bangladeshi cartoonists like Rafiqun Nabi, Shishir Bhattacharjee, and Ahsan Habib.

[14] Some people led by acclaimed religious influencers chose to call for a nationwide strike in Bangladesh on the back of the incident.

[citation needed] On 4 February 2008, the High Court ruled Arif's detention illegal,[22] dropped all charges brought against him and ordered his immediate release.

He was finally freed on 20 March 2008,[1][23][24] but the struggle continued for Arif as he found it hard to pursue his cartooning dreams like he used to.

[25][26] The court in Jessore sentenced him to two months of rigorous imprisonment and fined him 500 Bangladeshi Taka, or another seven days in prison for impiety.

[25][26] In Norway, his cartoons were published in various newspapers and magazines, such as Akershus Amtstidende, Ny Tid, Syn og Segn, Samtiden, Aftenposten, Østlandposten, Østlands-Posten, Bladet Vesterålen, Avisa Nordland, Glåmdalen, Stavanger Aftenblad and Melding til Stortinget by Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Norway).

To this day, Toons Mag promotes freedom of expression and encourages cartoonists around the world to contribute to it to enrich their cartooning expertise.

Toons Mag is exclusively edited by Arifur Rahman and it continues to be an untameable advocate of free speech.

Cartoonists and writers from around the world willingly contribute to Toons Mag to showcase their talent and fulfill their potential.

[28] In 2015, Toons Mag was nominated for the Best of Online Activism by The BOBs (Best of the Blogs), sponsored by Deutsche Welle and won it with an outstanding number of votes to its credit.

[42] Since 2000 to present, his artwork and cartoons have been exhibited in more than 40 places, including Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Norway, Sweden, Morocco, Turkey, France, Croatia, Slovakia and the United States.

On 10 September 2015, the exhibition was opened by Bishop Atle Sommerfeldt in The Norwegian Cartoonist Gallery (Avistegnernes Hus), Drøbak.

[45][54] To draw the global awareness about women's rights, the cartoon competition was organized by Arifur Rahman and Toons Mag.

[55][56] The drawings in the exhibitions deal with women's rights and limitations; the lack of education, forced marriage, female genital mutilation, violence, discrimination, legal protection, and workload.

It was also exhibited in Kýchanie Mozgu – Brain Sneezing gallery, Prešov, and Košice, Slovakia, as well as in the Slovak embassy in Oslo, Norway.