‘Abbás-‘Alí Butt

‘Abbás-‘Alí Butt
Born	1894 Ludhiana, Punjab, India
Died	April 21, 1959 Rangoon, Burma
NSA member	India and Burma ???? - 1959
ABM	Asia 1954 - 1959
Media

‘Abbás-‘Alí Butt, known in some sources as Abbasally Butt, (1894 - April 21, 1959) was an Indian Bahá'í who served on the National Spiritual Assembly of India, Pakistan and Burma, helped establish the National Spiritual Assembly of Burma, and served as an inaugural Auxiliary Board member for Asia.

Biography

Butt was born into a Kashmiri Muslim family and his father was a shawl merchant. He was introduced to the Faith when he fell ill in his youth and was nursed back to health by a Bahá'í who asked him to help translate the Kitáb-i-Íqán into Urdu in return. He would also go on to translate Some Answered Questions and Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era into Urdu. He received a Bachelor of Education in his studies, and also studied the Persian language at the University of Punjab.

In 1913 he moved to the Holy Land at the request of ‘Abdu'l-Bahá and began serving as a translator, translating Tablets from ‘Abdu'l-Bahá sent to the Western Bahá'ís. He returned to India when WWI began.

After completing his education he moved to Burma and became headmaster of the Muslim High School in Rangoon, but lost his job due to his religion and began to teach at St. Gabriel Mission High School, also in Rangoon. He was an active member of the Burmese Bahá'í community, and was a member of the delegation that transported the marble sarcophagus which the remains of the Báb are now held in from Burma to the Holy Land.

Butt served on the National Spiritual Assembly of India, Pakistan and Burma as Chairman and Secretary for many years, and corresponded with Shoghi Effendi as part of his duties. In 1954 he was appointed as an inaugural Auxiliary Board member for Asia by the Hands of the Cause in Asia, serving in the position until his passing in 1959.

References

• Obituary published in Bahá'í World, Vol. 13, pp 885-886