Understanding Allāh's Attributes of Al-Malik
(The King)
By Dr. Muhammad Ratib
An-Nabulsi
In the name of Allāh,
the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful;
All the praise and
Thanks is due to Allāh, the Lord of al-‘ālameen.
I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allāh,
and that Muhammad, Sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam is His Messenger.
The
Real King is God, who is Self-Sufficient in Himself and Attributes and needs
nothing; but all things in existence need Him for everything.
Al-Malik
(The King) is one of Allāh’s
ninety-nine divine Names and Attributes.
According to scholars, Whosoever knows each one of these names will be admitted
into Paradise.
Allāh says in the Qur’an: “He is Allāh, besides Whom there is no god, the King,
the Holy, the One Free from all defects, the Giver of security, the Watcher
over His creatures, the All-Mighty, the Compeller, the Supreme. Glory be to Allāh! High is He above all that which they
associate as partners with Him.”
(Al-Hashr, 59: 23)
Allāh also says: “Master (King) of the Day of Judgement” (Al-Fātihah,
1: 4)
In another Qur’anic Verse Allāh says: “Say: ‘O
Allāh, Owner
of the Kingdom! You give kingdom to whom You will, and You take kingdom from
whom You will; and You endue with honor whom You will, and You humiliate whom
You will. In Your Hand is the Good. Verily, You are Able to do all things.” (Al-‘Imran, 3: 26)
Allāh also says: “So Glorified and Far Exalted is He (above
all that they associate with Him), in Whose Hand is the Dominion of all things,
and to Whom you shall be returned.”
(Ya-Sin, 36:83)
Definition
of Al-Mulk (Sovereignty):
In Arabic the word “Mulk” means the ability to dispose with things,
and hence, Allāh’s name “The King” is derived from His Self, but it can also
be derived from His acts as the Disposer with all things. In a divine Hadith, Allāh says: “I am the King of kings, and the Owner of
kings. The hearts of kings are in My Hand: if My slaves obey Me, I turn the
hearts of their kings to them with tenderness and mercy; but if My slaves
disobey Me, I turn the hearts of their kings to them with wrath and avenge.
Therefore, do not occupy yourselves by abusing kings but (rather) pray (to Allāh) for
their reform, for their reform comes from your own reform.}
Allāh is the King and Owner of kings. In other
words, everything that can be owned belongs to Allāh. Some
scholars hold that a king is someone who rules but does not own, and an owner
is someone who owns but does not rule; but Allāh is the Owner and the King.
Sometimes, a person may own something but
does not have the right to use it. Sometimes, a person may use and dispose with
something although he does not own it. And sometimes, a person may own, use and
dispose with something, but in the end it does not remain his own.
Now, if we say someone is a king do we
mean that he is really or metaphorically a king? Scholars refuted the idea that
anyone can really own anything except Allāh; and any kind of ownership other than
that of Allāh is only metaphoric and unreal.
This is because the real king is someone
who is self-sufficient in both himself and attributes and needs no one, or
nothing else in existence.
Is there a king who is self-sufficient and
needs nothing for his existence and survival?
Does he not need air to breathe, water to
drink, food to eat, and sleep to rest?
Does he not feel afraid or sad?
Does he not wish he could have more
supporters and helpers?
The
Real King
Every human being is, therefore, in need
of other fellow humans or other things for the achievement of his existence and
survival; and, therefore, no human being, or any other creature, can ever be a
real king. The Real King is Allāh, the
All-Mighty, the Self-Sufficient; and anyone else can be only metaphorically
called “a king”.
The Real King is Allāh, who
is Self-Sufficient in Himself and Attributes and needs nothing; but all things
in existence need Him for everything. In other words, He is the King by Himself,
His Existence, and His Attributes. He is in need of nothing, but all things do
need Him. Such is the accurate definition of “The King”, and none but Allāh, deserves it.
Allāh is the
one who owns and grants ownership. To
this effect Allāh says: “Say: ‘O Allāh, Owner
of the Kingdom! You give kingdom to whom You will, and You take kingdom from
whom You will; and You endue with honor whom You will, and You humiliate whom
You will. In Your Hand is the Good. Verily, You are Able to do all things.” (Al-‘Imran, 3:26)
And real ownership is to control one’s
desires and not to let them dominate over him, to be free from oneself and not
possessed thereby.
To this effect, Joseph, (‘alayhissalam)
acknowledges the fact that Allāh has bestowed on him sovereignty:
“My
Lord! You have indeed bestowed on me of the sovereignty and taught me something
of the interpretation of dreams. (You are) the Only Creator of the heavens and
the earth! You are my Guardian (and Protector) in this world and in the
Hereafter! Cause me to die as a Muslim and join me with the righteous!” (Yusuf, 12: 101)
But what kind of sovereignty was it? It
might be thought that it was sovereignty over treasures of the earth, but most
interpreters hold that it was not that as such, but, rather, he was granted the
real sovereignty, namely self-control. It was when he got control of himself
saying: “I take refuge with Allāh!” (Yusuf, 12:23) when the king’s wife
invited him maliciously to indecent work, seducing him: “Come
on!” Scholars of Qur’anic interpretation said:
This is real sovereignty that never perishes.
Some say: The King is He Who possesses the
hearts of worshippers and makes them anxious. In fact, when someone gets to
know Allāh, he
enters a state of love and becomes possessed thereby. He becomes great after
having been trivial. Hence, he enters a state of permanent anxiety until he
meets his Lord, wondering: “Is my Lord contented with me?! Does my work appeal
to Allāh? Does Allāh love
me?! Is my work sincere enough?! Is there any deviation in my work?! Is there
anything or anyone I seek other than Allāh?
They also say that the King is He Who
possesses the hearts of those who know Him and causes such hearts to burn; the
King is He Who, if He so desires, grants ownership, or, if He so desires,
causes to perish: “Verily, the Seizure of your Lord is severe
and painful.”
(Al-Qiyamah, 75:12)
If He gives, He amazes; and if He brings
someone to account, He inquires about everything.
Allāh is The King, Who, if He so desires,
grants ownership and dominion, and, if He so desires, causes to perish. He is
the Real King, Whom none could ever defy or dispute with. None could ever
resist His Irresistible Divine Will or prevent His Judgment. He is the King, by
whose command all stars and planets run.
Basic
Elements of Ownership
In one Qur’anic verse Allāh
mentions five basic elements of ownership. Allāh says:
“Say, ‘O Allāh,
Possessor of the Kingdom! You give the kingdom to whom You will; and You take
the kingdom from whom You will; and You endue with honor whom You will; and You
humiliate whom You will. In Your Hand is the good. Verily, Your are Powerful
over all things.”
(Al-‘Imran, 3:26)
1 - By the Qur’anic Words “And you
endue with honor whom You will” we
embark on the notion of honor and humiliation. Here we have something delicate:
If Allāh
desires to honor you, He subjugates even your enemies for you; and if He
desires to humiliate someone, He makes even his closest relatives humiliate
him: “And he whom Allāh
humiliates shall receive honor from none.”
2 - The Qur’anic words “In Your
Hand is the Good” mean
that even humiliation coming from Allāh to some of His slaves is good, and taking
away kingdom from other slaves is also good, even if it might be considered as
evil by some ignorant people.
3 - The words “You make the night enter into the day…” denote Allāh’s
divine disposal with the universe. The earth goes round the sun in an
elliptical orbit.
“Verily,
Allāh grasps
the heavens and the earth lest they should move away from their places; and if
they were to move away from their places, there is not one that could possibly
grasp them after Him. Truly, He is Ever Most Forbearing, Oft-Forgiving.” (Fatir, 35:41)
This is one of the connotations of Allāh’s
Divine Name “The King”.
“You
make the night enter into the day; and You make the day enter into the night.
You bring the living out of the dead; and You bring the dead out of the living.
And You give wealth and sustenance to whom You will without limit.” (Al-‘Imran, 3:27)
4 - One of the connotations of Allāh’s
being The King is that He alternates day and night and brings the living out of
the dead and the dead out of the living.
“And
Noah called upon his Lord and said, ‘O my Lord! Verily, my son is of my family!
And certainly, Your Promise is true; and You are the Most Just of the judges.’
He (Allāh) said,
‘O Noah! Surely, he is not of your family; verily, his work is unrighteous. So
ask not of Me that of which you have no knowledge! I admonish you lest you
should be one of the ignorant.” (Hud, 11: 45-6)
5 - The last item of Allāh’s
being The King is:
“And
You give wealth and sustenance to whom You will without limit” in the sense that He may give wealth and
sustenance to a weak person just as He may make a powerful and clever person
poor.
Allah Almighty Knows best
Related Links:
[
Excerpted from : “Toward Understanding Allāh's Attributes of Al-Malik (The King)” By Dr. Muhammad Ratib
An-Nabulsi, via On Islam, Wednesday, 03
November 2010.Dr. Muhammad Ratib An-Nabulsi is a Muslim Syrian preacher and writer. He has written a number of
Islamic books, most remarkable of which are: “Encyclopedia of the Beautiful
Names of Allāh”, “Encyclopedia of Scientific Miracles of
the Holy Quran and Prophetic Sunnah” , “Outlooks on Islam” and “Contemplations
on Islam”. He delivers a number of lessons, orations, symposiums and chat
programs broadcasted on the Syrian, Arab, and Islamic radios and Televisions. This article is a summarized version of
the article (Al-Malik) by the author, published at his web site
http://www.nabulsi.com/]
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