Asmaul Husna - 99 Names of Allah and their Meaning (3/99)

3. Al-Malik (The King and Owner of Dominion)

Al-Malik literally means "The King" in Arabic.

The One with the complete Dominion, the One Whose Dominion is clear from imperfection.

He is the one who reigns dominion over the heavens and the earth and everything that resides within them.

There is nothing above Him, and He is alone. He is the absolute ruler, without any objection or partnership.

He can never be abdicated from His throne and doesn't need the support of His subjects. He does not need His kingdom, but His kingdom needs Him.

Arabic Root: From the root mim-lam-kaf (م ل ك), which has the following classical Arabic connotations: to possess, to own exclusively to exercise authority to command to have power over, command, reign to have dominion over, to have ruling power to have kingship.

Some benefits of reciting Al-Malik

He who repeats this name many times every day after the Fajr prayer will become rich by the grace of Allah.

Al-Malik in the Quran

Exalted is Allah, the True King! There is no god ˹worthy of worship˺ except Him, the Lord of the Honourable Throne. (23:116)

Exalted is Allah, the True King! Do not rush to recite ˹a revelation of˺ the Quran ˹O Prophet˺ before it is ˹properly˺ conveyed to you, and pray, “My Lord! Increase me in knowledge.” (20:114)

He is Allah—there is no god except Him: the King, the Most Holy, the All-Perfect, the Source of Serenity, the Watcher ˹of all˺, the Almighty, the Supreme in Might, the Majestic. Glorified is Allah far above what they associate with Him ˹in worship˺! (59:23)

Al-Malik in the Hadith

The Statement of Allah the Most High: "...And on the Day of Resurrection, the whole of the earth will be grasped by His Hand and the heavens will be rolled up in His Right Hand..." (V.39:67)

حَدَّثَنَا سَعِيدُ بْنُ عُفَيْرٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي اللَّيْثُ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنُ خَالِدِ بْنِ مُسَافِرٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ شِهَابٍ، عَنْ أَبِي سَلَمَةَ، أَنَّ أَبَا هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ ‏ "‏ يَقْبِضُ اللَّهُ الأَرْضَ، وَيَطْوِي السَّمَوَاتِ بِيَمِينِهِ، ثُمَّ يَقُولُ أَنَا الْمَلِكُ، أَيْنَ مُلُوكُ الأَرْضِ ‏"‏‏.‏

Narrated Abu Huraira: I heard Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) saying, "Allah will hold the whole earth, and roll all the heavens up in His Right Hand, and then He will say, 'I am the King; where are the kings of the earth?"'

(Sahih al-Bukhari 4812)

What we can learn from Allah's Name Al-Malik

Our belief and understanding that Allah is Al-Malik (The King), enable us to realize all matters we seek belong with Him.

Only to Allah do we seek refuge because He is the King of kings, the only provider that a Muslim needs.

Full belief in this Name (Al-Malik) will free us from today's doctrine where we need to favor the leaders or people that are above us (in terms of fame, money, and power) to become rich and powerful.

Believe it or not, these type of people will use their advantage to influence us for their benefit, directly or indirectly.

But as a person that knows Allah is Al-Malik will make us see the illusion and don't fall into their tricks.

So my brother and sisters, should you be a slave to a fellow human just for the sake of fame, money, or power?

Or do you just fully submit to Allah, The King of kings, where His whole Kingdom is the whole Universe?

You Decide.

May Allah bless our hearts and increase our Imaan to the highest level. Ameen.

Resources:

1. Quran Al-Kareem (https://quran.com/)
2. Sunnah.com (https://sunnah.com/)
3. Beloved and respected Scholars.

Disclaimers:

1. Some of the translations in this article are quite different from others because the author is not a native English speaker (the Author is Malaysian).
2. The author is practicing Mazhab As-Syafie (Fiqh), Asya'irah (Tauhid), and Imam Al-Ghazali (Tasawwuf), so there might be some differences in culture, fiqh, and practices.
3. The knowledge in this article is shared based on the author's understanding of Islam with reference to his teacher.
4. Islam is perfect while the author is not. Hence, there may be some mistakes in translation or writing style.
5. Knowledge in this article is 100% from other scholars and not from the author's know-it-all perspective.
6. The knowledge in this article is not complete. Therefore the author encourages brothers and sisters to learn more about these with their respective teachers or scholars such as Mufti Menk or Ustaz Nouman Ali Khan. Never learn Islam alone through books.