Clyde Rahman, 79, founder of African-American mosque in Cleveland, dies

Posted by Grant Segall/Plain Dealer Reporter February 17, 2009 01:21AM

CLEVELAND — Senior Imam Clyde Rahman overcame racism and two shootings to become an ecumenical leader.

Rahman built Cleveland's Masjid Bilal, one of the nation's first African-American mosques, but helped to diversify it and start many interracial activities.

He died Saturday at age 79 at Park East Care and Rehabilitation Center, Beachwood, from complications of Alzheimer's disease.

Rahman was shot by enemies during the Korean War and by an ex-Muslim in St. Louis in 1966. The ex-Muslim wounded his own brother, killed a third man and left a bullet inside Rahman's skull for life.

Through it all, Rahman kept a low-key sense of humor. He said a nurse miraculously cured him of his Korean wounds after nine months by denying his usual morphine. He jumped out of bed to chase her.

But Masjid members learned not to taken Rahman's calmness for granted.

"He was known to roar," recalled member Alan Seifullah. "He was a stickler for doing things right."
Rahman worked with ministers of many faiths for peace.

"Our Koran does not even hint that we should take innocent life," he once said, "and it is a disgrace to Islam for any Muslim to support terrorism."

He was born Clyde Jones in Canton, Miss. He spoke up when his father was shortchanged for crops. The white merchant told Clyde never to come back.

"That taught him to be a leader and stand up for what was right," recalled his widow, Hameeda.
After the Korean War, Jones became a policeman in Detroit. Soon, he also became a minister in the Nation of Islam. He kept his first name to respect his parents, who had chosen it, but changed his surname, which they hadn't.

Rahman led temples in Dayton, St. Louis, Dallas, Kansas City, Baltimore and Springfield, Ohio.

In 1976, he came to Cleveland and joined Masjid Bilal in an inherited building on Houghton Avenue. The next year, he helped lead many American Muslims on a pilgrimage to Mecca.

In 1983, he raised one of the first mosques built by African-Americans. He put the debt-free mosque on Euclid Avenue for visibility. It stands on the corner of a historic block of East 75th Street, now called Bilal Way.

Elijah Mohammed, who founded the Nation of Islam, emphasized black pride. But his son, W. Deen, emphasized inclusiveness and independence. Rahman followed the son's lead, cutting ties to the breakaway Nation of Islam and reaching across racial lines.

He served on the boards of many civic groups and chaired Community Guidance Inc. He was a chaplain to Cleveland's safety forces and Cleveland State University's basketball team.

Rahman's first wife, Beatrice, died young and childless. He thought he could not have children, then married Hameeda in 1990 and had two daughters with her.