A couple of weeks ago I was in the Halal Mart here in Norcross buying some falafel mix and hummus to make for the family when I decided to look through some of the Arabic books in the book section of the store. Now mind you most of what they have is questionable but every now and then I will find some treasures of the ‘Ulamaa. It was one of those days. As I sifted through some dusty and filthy stacks I came across “Sharh-ul-‘Aqeedat-il-Waasitiyyah” by the late Egyptian Scholar ash-Shaykh Muhammad Khaleel Harraas (rahimahullah). While it was used, had a huge hole in it, and over priced (I left the price tag on the book when I scanned it) I couldn’t pass this beneficial book up. My wife (may Allah bless her) has the English translation of the book so when I found the original version I decided I would do a review on it after I read it.
Shaykh Muhammad Amaan al-Jaamee (rahimahullah) said regarding the noble Shaykh:“Shaykh Muhammad Khaleel Harraas was a man from the ‘Ulamaa of al-Azhar. He was an Ash’aree Sufi Philosopher. When he wanted to present a treatise for either his masters or doctorate he was asked to write a book refuting Shaykh-ul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah (rahimahullah) but he wanted to refute philosophy. So he gathered the books of Ibn Taymiyyah to refute them and when he had begun to read them within three months the truth was clarified for him regarding ‘Aqeedah. He then recanted from the Ash’aree creed and began to adhere to Ahl-us-Sunnah wal-Jamaa’ah, believing in their correct creed. He then changed his treatise to “the ‘Aqeedah of Ibn Taymiyyah the Salafi” switching it from “the Refutation upon him”.
I scanned the portion that contains his bio and brother Aboo Maryam Isma’eel Alarcon (hafithahullah) has translated a more detailed biography of him.Click Here to Read His Biography
This is Shaykh Harraas’s excellent explanation of Shaykh-ul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah’s al-‘Aqeedah al-Waasitiyyah. The explanation seems to be more like notes printed as footnotes to the actual text. The style of language is simple but some of the poetry referenced is a bit advanced. This does not take from the Shaykh’s concise explanation of the issues noted by Shaykh-ul-Islaam.
The English version is decent but there are some omissions in some areas. It was printed by Daar-us-Salaam and reaches two hundred and twenty two pages. There is a nice Index, Publishers Note, Bio of Ibn Taymiyyah and of Shaykh Harraas in addition to the translation.The Arabic version contains a short Introduction by ash-Shaykh ‘Abdur-Razzaaq al-‘Afeefee (rahimahullah) as well as Shaykh Harraas’ introduction which is not included in the English translation.
