83 - مَالِكُ ٱلْمُلْكُ

[Bint e Aisha]

مَالِكُ ٱلْمُلْكُ

 

Translation 

The Eternal Owner of Sovereignty, The Master of The Kingdom.

 

Definition

This name has two definitions:

1. Allah is the Owner of all things and He controls them without any hindrance or opposition.

2. Imam Laith (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "Allah, the Almighty, He is the Allah, blessed and exalted is He, He is the King of all kings, kingship belongs to Him, and He is the Owner of the Day of Judgment."

 

So, a person who resides in a house and considers it his property without any association, think about it, nearly fifty-sixty years ago, whose property was it and where is it today? What was the outcome of his claimed ownership?

 

Mutannabi said it well: "The one who comes to this world takes ownership of it like a usurper seizing someone else's property, and the one who leaves it, departs from the world as if someone has looted his wealth."

 

In the Qur'an

 

قُلِ ٱللَّهُمَّ مَـٰلِكَ ٱلْمُلْكِ تُؤْتِى ٱلْمُلْكَ مَن تَشَآءُ وَتَنزِعُ ٱلْمُلْكَ مِمَّن تَشَآءُ وَتُعِزُّ مَن تَشَآءُ وَتُذِلُّ مَن تَشَآءُ ۖ بِيَدِكَ ٱلْخَيْرُ ۖ إِنَّكَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍۢ قَدِيرٌۭ

Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “O Allah! Lord over all authorities! You give authority to whoever You please and remove it from who You please; You honour whoever You please and disgrace who You please—all good is in Your Hands. Surely You ˹alone˺ are Most Capable of everything.

(Surah Ali 'Imran: 26)

 

تُولِجُ اللَّيْلَ فِي الْنَّهَارِ وَتُولِجُ النَّهَارَ فِي اللَّيْلِ وَتُخْرِجُ الْحَيَّ مِنَ الْمَيِّتِ وَتُخْرِجُ الَمَيَّتَ مِنَ الْحَيِّ وَتَرْزُقُ مَن تَشَاء بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ

 

You cause the night to pass into the day and the day into the night. You bring forth the living from the dead and the dead from the living. And You provide for whoever You will without limit.”

(Surah Ali 'Imran: 27)

 

لِّلَّهِ مُلْكُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ۚ يَخْلُقُ مَا يَشَآءُ ۚ يَهَبُ لِمَن يَشَآءُ إِنَـٰثًۭا وَيَهَبُ لِمَن يَشَآءُ ٱلذُّكُورَ 

 

To Allah ˹alone˺ belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth. He creates whatever He wills. He blesses whoever He wills with daughters, and blesses whoever He wills with sons

(Surah Ash-Shuraa: 49)

 

In Du'a

 

The Virtue of Supplicating Through This Blessed Name

There is a narration that if supplication is made with the Ism Azam (the Greatest Name of Allah), then that supplication is accepted.

 

قُلِ ٱللَّهُمَّ مَـٰلِكَ ٱلْمُلْكِ تُؤْتِى ٱلْمُلْكَ مَن تَشَآءُ وَتَنزِعُ ٱلْمُلْكَ مِمَّن تَشَآءُ

"Say, 'O Allah, Owner of Sovereignty, You give kingship to whom You will and take it away from whom You will.'" (Quran, Surah Al Imran, 3:26)

 

In this verse, the boundless power and might of Allah are expressed; He can make a king into a beggar and a beggar into a king. He is the owner of all authority, and all goodness lies solely in the hands of Allah; besides Allah, there is no bestower of goodness.

 

Imam Baghawi (may Allah have mercy on him) has narrated a hadith that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: It is the command of Allah that whoever recites after every prayer Surah Al-Fatihah, Ayat al-Kursi, and two verses of Al-Imran, one verse: شَهِدَ ٱللَّهُ أَنَّهُۥ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ until the end, and the other verse: قُلِ ٱللَّهُمَّ مَـٰلِكَ ٱلْمُلْكِ till بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ , then I will build a house for him in Paradise ... And I will bestow my mercy upon him every day ... And I will fulfill all his needs ... And I will grant him refuge from every envious person and enemy ..."

 

The true King is Allah

After detailing Allah's glory and His blessings upon His servants in Surah Fatir, it is stated:

 

"That is Allah—your Lord! All authority belongs to Him. But those ˹idols˺ you invoke besides Him do not possess even the skin of a date stone.

 

If you call upon them, they cannot hear your calls. And if they were to hear, they could not respond to you. On the Day of Judgment they will disown your worship ˹of them˺. And no one can inform you ˹O Prophet˺ like the All-Knowledgeable.

 

O humanity! It is you who stand in need of Allah, but Allah ˹alone˺ is the Self-Sufficient, Praiseworthy.

 

If He willed, He could eliminate you and produce a new creation.

 

And that is not difficult for Allah ˹at all˺."

(Quran, Surah Fatir)

 

When you believe in the original Creator and Master, the one who controls and sustains the entire universe, then you should not fear anyone besides Him and should not turn back to others as objects of worship. When the True One is there, what remains after truth except falsehood? Leaving truth and indulging in false illusions, making someone else a deity besides the Creator, the Owner, the Absolute Lord, and the Sovereign is not the act of a wise person.

 

How can someone who relies on Allah be troubled?

 

There was once a severe drought in Balkh, to the extent that people started eating every kind of withered grass. Everyone was deeply distressed and despondent, but a servant continued to happily sell in the market. When people reproached him, he replied:

Translation: "I have no sorrow because the owner of an entire village (without any partnership) is my master. (This thing has freed my heart from all kinds of worries and relieved all my sorrows)."

 

Upon hearing this, Abu Ali Shafiq bin Ibrahim Azdi (may Allah have mercy on him) opened his eyes, feeling deeply ashamed, and turned towards Allah, saying: "O Allah, this servant belongs to a person whose possession is only one village, yet he is so happy, and we too call You our Lord and are concerned about our sustenance to such an extent that it has no bounds." So, when this thought came to his mind he turned away from the affairs of the world and futile thoughts, and adopted worldly means with moderation while engaging in religious matters.

From that day on, he mentions that he never felt distressed about sustenance.

 

Counsel

(1) Those who have a connection with this blessed name should consider themselves as humble servants. The true owner of everything, the true owner of every person, is the one whose sovereignty is eternal and absolute. He who crowns the poor and makes thrones dust for kings.

 

(2) One should repeatedly ponder that besides Allah, there is no creator, no provider of sustenance, nor does anyone have the power to grant or prevent, to give life or to cause death. Not even a particle can move without His will. Therefore, one should engage in worship and supplication only to Him.

 

(3) One should refrain from asking anything from others, while keeping in mind the virtue of supplicating through this blessed name and make arrangements for supplication.

 

(4) Sit alone and contemplate, and invite people in gatherings that the sole owner of the entire universe is only Allah, and whatever is in the universe, its owner is also only Allah. A person who has acquired knowledge of this name will not argue with people saying, "So and so took away my thing, so and so did not give it to me"; rather, he will believe that "I will take more of this from Malikul Mulk, if Allah intends to give it to me, no one can stop it, if Allah does not intend, no one can give it, then why complain to the creation?"

 

And consider oneself and whatever is in one's possession as owned, that this is temporary ownership for me, so I should spend these blessings in the way of Allah. Life, time, wealth, everything, man deceives himself about these worldly blessings, thinking they are mine! Whereas, all this is entrusted by Allah.

 

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