Bob Hurley remembers his mother talking about the Baháʼí House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois, when she was young.
“Somebody told her that’s where the holy rollers are,” Hurley, 71, a Chicago resident, said. “So, she had this concept in her mind of people rolling on the ground saying their prayer.”
In college, Hurley said he met a friend who invited him to a “party” that turned out to be a Baháʼí Youth Conference. This began Hurley’s journey with the Baháʼí Faith.
The Baháʼí community, which faces persecution in its homeland, Iran, has found a home in the greater Chicago area.
Baháʼí Faith began in 19th Century Iran under the prophet Baháʼu’lláh. The religion believes in progressive revelation, the thought that God is being revealed to humans through prophets from Krishna to Buddha to Jesus.
The Evanston Baháʼí Community meets every 19 days for a Nineteen Day Feast, often hosted at the Evanston Friends Meeting, on 1010 Greenleaf St. Joyce Litoff, the former associate director of communications at the Baháʼí National Center in Evanston, said she believes the Evanston Baháʼí community is expanding.
“I’ve hosted feast in my condo on occasion,” Litoff said. “The community’s been growing, so we’re kind of splitting up into sectors, but we also have community-wide feasts.”
Typically Baháʼí National Centers are located in the capitals of different countries. But the United States center is located in central Evanston to be close to the House of Worship. Litoff said she believes this is what has caused the community to grow in Evanston.
Roya Ayman, a fifth-generation Baháʼí from Iran who lives in Chicago, remembers observing Baháʼí persecution as a kid.
“In a way, you could say fortunately, because my mother was not Baháʼí , I did not experience as bad of a persecution as some of the other Baháʼí children,” Ayman said. “So, people did befriend me. They would come to my birthdays, but other Baháʼí children, people wouldn’t befriend them.”
Ayman’s current neighborhood, Hyde Park, is home to a robust Baháʼí community which comes together for holy days, has a WhatsApp group chat and supports ill members of their community by driving them to appointments.
Ayman thinks that one of the main characteristics of the Baháʼí community is equality in race, gender and socioeconomic status.
“Civilization is like a bird, and men and women are like the two wings of the bird, and a bird cannot reach its height if it has one strong wing,” Ayman said. “So, therefore men and women have to have equal opportunities.”
In Evanston, the Baháʼí community comes together for children’s classes, study circles and a junior youth program. They are involved in various social justice projects, according to Litoff, such as housing homeless people and working in food pantries.
“People will make suggestions to the Evanston community what things we should be supporting, and then it’s up to individuals to volunteer to do that,” Litoff said.
Ayman said the Baháʼí community in Chicago is there for everyone’s best and worst moments.
“People tend to share their happinesses and their sadnesses and their successes and others chime in if they have challenges,” Ayman said.
