Seth
L Carney, native of Providence, Rhode Island, known as Shaykh 'Abd
al-Hakeem Carney in his Shia Muslim community of Dearborn, Michigan
died on July 8, 2007 at the age of 28. He was a popular member of
the Near and Middle Eastern Studies Department at Wayne State University
in Detroit and as a member of the Shia Islamic clergy he had achieved
the highest rank of any American born member of the ulama.
Seth
attended Moses Brown School and Classical High School in Providence,
but began his college education at the age of 15 at Simon's Rock
College of Bard, transferred to Providence College in Rhode Island,
where he earned his BA. in 1999. He converted to Islam at sixteen,
and continued his study of Islam and the Arabic language throughout
his life. He earned an MA in Islamic Societies and Cultures at the
School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and
had submitted his PhD candidate disseration in Islamic Studies on
early Shi'ite hadith literature shortly before he died.
He
studied the Arabic language in Egypt and in London, and completed
his studies in the Shi'ite hawzah with scholars in London, completing
the levels of muqaddimah, sutuh, as well as studying dars al-kharij,
the highest level of study in the Shi'ite hawzah. He was entered
into the Shi'ite clergy by Ayatullah Bahr al-Ulum in London in 2001.
He published in the Keston Journal of Religion, Society, the Organisation
for Security and Co-operation in Europe Yearbook, the Journal of
the American Academy of Religion; Journal of Arabic and Islamic
Studies, the Journal for Islamic Studies. He translated the work
of 'Mantiq al-Muzhafr', an important introductory text on formal
logic that is used in the Shi'ite seminary. He was the Editor of
a number of websites dealing with Islamic theology including shiapedia.com
and nuralimam.net. He also wrote a large number of Islamic hymns
and poetry.
He
taught philosophy and logic at the Islamic College for Advanced
Studies in London, Islamic, Religious Studies at Lawrence University
in Appleton, Wisconsin, and was on the faculty of Wayne State University
when he died.
Known
as Shaykh 'Abd al-Hakeem, he spoke at Islamic Centers throughout
the United States and the United Kingdom, including the Imam Khu'i
Centre in London and New York, the Islamic Centre of America in
Dearborn, Michigan, the Islamic House of Wisdom in Dearborn Heights,
Michigan, the Grand Mosque of Parma outside of Cleveland, Ohio,
and many other smaller centers throughout the United States and
the UK. He was particularly popular among young Islamic audiences.
He
is survived by his parents Larry S. Carney, Lecturer at Rhode Island
School of Design and Charlotte G. O'Kelly, Professor at Providence
College, his sister Robin Carney MacMurray of Atlanta and his brother
Adam Carney of Baton Rouge and grandparents Hellen and Charlie Anderson
of Fallston, N.C. His paternal grandparents were the late Horace
and Dorothy Carney of Elmer, N.J.
The
funeral services were held at the Islamic Center of America on July
11 with internment at the United Memorial Gardens in Plymouth Michigan.
Additional memorial services have been held at the Islamic House
of Wisdom in Dearborn Heights, in London, and at Wayne State in
Detroit.