مَالِكُ الْمُلْكِ
One of the Most Beautiful Names of Allah
Maalik-Ul-Mulk
The Owner of Sovereignty
Maalik-Ul-Mulk is the Owner of Absolute Sovereignty, the Owner of Dominion. All creation is His alone, and He does as He wills, when He wills. Its verse is 3:26, a prayer that opens O Allah, Owner of Sovereignty, and the Name is mentioned twice in the Quran. Ibn Kathir's advice for saying it: trust Allah and thank Him.
Key verse
﴿قُلِ ٱللَّهُمَّ مَـٰلِكَ ٱلْمُلْكِ تُؤْتِى ٱلْمُلْكَ مَن تَشَآءُ وَتَنزِعُ ٱلْمُلْكَ مِمَّن تَشَآءُ وَتُعِزُّ مَن تَشَآءُ وَتُذِلُّ مَن تَشَآءُ ۖ بِيَدِكَ ٱلْخَيْرُ ۖ إِنَّكَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ﴾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.
The scholar's text
The Owner of Absolute Sovereignty, The Owner of Dominion.
Lord of the Kingdom. He is the sole owner of all creation and, with absolute authority, can act in any manner, at any time, and in any way.
(قُلِ ٱللَّهُمَّ مَٰلِكَ ٱلۡمُلۡكِ تُؤۡتِي ٱلۡمُلۡكَ مَن تَشَآءُ وَتَنزِعُ ٱلۡمُلۡكَ مِمَّن تَشَآءُ وَتُعِزُّ مَن تَشَآءُ وَتُذِلُّ مَن تَشَآءُۖ بِيَدِكَ ٱلۡخَيۡرُۖ إِنَّكَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيۡءٖ قَدِيرٞ) آل عمران 3: 26
"Say, “O Allah, Owner of Sovereignty, You give sovereignty to whom You will and You take sovereignty away from whom You will. You honor whom You will and You humble whom You will. In Your hand is [all] good. Indeed, You are over all things competent.": (Qur'an 3:26)
It is mentioned 2 times in the Holy Quran
مالك السلطان المطلق، مالك الملك.
رب الملك. هو المالك الوحيد لكل الخلق، وبسلطانه المطلق يتصرف كيف شاء، ومتى شاء، وبأي وجه شاء.
(قُلِ ٱللَّهُمَّ مَـٰلِكَ ٱلْمُلْكِ تُؤْتِى ٱلْمُلْكَ مَن تَشَآءُ وَتَنزِعُ ٱلْمُلْكَ مِمَّن تَشَآءُ وَتُعِزُّ مَن تَشَآءُ وَتُذِلُّ مَن تَشَآءُ ۖ بِيَدِكَ ٱلْخَيْرُ ۖ إِنَّكَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ) آل عمران 3: 26
ورد في القرآن الكريم مرتين.
Say: O Allah, Owner of Sovereignty
A prayer, first of all. The Prophet ﷺ was told to say it, and Ibn Kathir adds the manner: glorifying his Lord, relying on Him, thanking Him, leaving the matter to Him. Then come the acts that belong to the Owner alone: authority given and taken back, honour and disgrace. Ibn Kathir's summary is short. You give, You withhold; what You will happens, and what You do not will never does. The definition above says it too: He acts in any way, at any time.
Arabic: قل اللهم مالك الملك
آية الاسم دعاء أمر به النبي ﷺ، قال ابن كثير: قل «يا محمد، معظما لربك ومتوكلا عليه، وشاكرا له ومفوضا إليه». ثم تعدد الآية ما لا يفعله إلا المالك: إيتاء الملك ونزعه، والإعزاز والإذلال، قال ابن كثير: «أنت المعطي، وأنت المانع، وأنت الذي ما شئت كان وما لم تشأ لم يكن». وهذا ما في التعريف أعلاه بلفظ الآية: يتصرف كيف شاء ومتى شاء.
Chosroes, Caesar, and the Kings of the Earth
Authority given and authority taken away: al-Sa'di sees a hint in those words of 3:26 that Allah would take rule from the Chosroes and the Caesars and those who followed them and give it to the nation of Muhammad ﷺ, and, he adds, He did. He draws a lesson for later times too: look at the Muslim states, and the greatest cause of their loss of rule was leaving the religion and the division that made their enemies bold. Of the Last Day, the Prophet ﷺ said: “On the Day of Resurrection Allah will hold the whole earth and fold the heaven with His right hand and say, 'I am the King: where are the kings of the earth?” (Sahih al-Bukhari 7382, narrated by Abu Huraira).
Arabic: تؤتي الملك من تشاء وتنزع الملك ممن تشاء
في قوله: ﴿تُؤْتِى ٱلْمُلْكَ مَن تَشَآءُ وَتَنزِعُ ٱلْمُلْكَ مِمَّن تَشَآءُ﴾ قال السعدي: «وفيه الإشارة إلى أن الله تعالى سينزع الملك من الأكاسرة والقياصرة ومن تبعهم ويؤتيه أمة محمد، وقد فعل ولله الحمد». ثم قال في زوال الملك: «وأنت إذا استقرأت الدول الإسلامية وجدت السبب الأعظم في زوال ملكها ترك الدين والتفرق الذي أطمع فيهم الأعداء وجعل بأسهم بينهم». وفي يوم القيامة، قال النبي ﷺ: «يَقْبِضُ اللَّهُ الأَرْضَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ، وَيَطْوِي السَّمَاءَ بِيَمِينِهِ ثُمَّ يَقُولُ أَنَا الْمَلِكُ أَيْنَ مُلُوكُ الأَرْضِ» (صحيح البخاري 7382، عن أبي هريرة).
The Living From the Dead
﴿تُولِجُ ٱلَّيْلَ فِى ٱلنَّهَارِ وَتُولِجُ ٱلنَّهَارَ فِى ٱلَّيْلِ ۖ وَتُخْرِجُ ٱلْحَىَّ مِنَ ٱلْمَيِّتِ وَتُخْرِجُ ٱلْمَيِّتَ مِنَ ٱلْحَىِّ ۖ وَتَرْزُقُ مَن تَشَآءُ 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.”
The prayer goes on in 3:27: night passing into day and day into night, the living brought out of the dead and the dead out of the living, and provision without limit. Al-Sa'di gives examples. The chick comes out of the egg, the tree out of the date stone, the crop out of its seed, the believer out of the disbeliever. And the provision is wide, he says, from where a person never expected it and never earned it.
Arabic: وتخرج الحي من الميت
وتكمل الآية التالية: ﴿تُولِجُ ٱلَّيْلَ فِى ٱلنَّهَارِ وَتُولِجُ ٱلنَّهَارَ فِى ٱلَّيْلِ ۖ وَتُخْرِجُ ٱلْحَىَّ مِنَ ٱلْمَيِّتِ وَتُخْرِجُ ٱلْمَيِّتَ مِنَ ٱلْحَىِّ ۖ وَتَرْزُقُ مَن تَشَآءُ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ﴾، قال السعدي في الحي من الميت: «كالفرخ من البيضة، وكالشجر من النوى، وكالزرع من بذره، وكالمؤمن من الكافر»، وفي الرزق: «ترزق من تشاء رزقا واسعا من حيث لا يحتسب ولا يكتسب».
He Protects, and None Protects Against Him
﴿قُلْ مَنۢ بِيَدِهِۦ مَلَكُوتُ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ وَهُوَ يُجِيرُ وَلَا يُجَارُ عَلَيْهِ إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ﴾Ask ˹them also,˺ “In Whose Hands is the authority over all things, protecting ˹all˺ while none can protect against Him, if you ˹really˺ know?”
23:88 asks: in whose hands is the authority over all things, protecting all while none can protect against Him? Ibn Kathir explains it by an Arab custom. When a chief took someone under his protection, that protection was not broken, and no one beneath him could grant protection against him. Allah is the great Chief, he says, with none greater, to whom belong creation and command, and no one can overturn His judgment. 36:83 closes Ya-Sin on the same authority, and for al-Sa'di even raising people after death, to carry out the judgment, is part of His complete sovereignty.
Arabic: وهو يجير ولا يجار عليه
تسأل آية المؤمنون: ﴿قُلْ مَنۢ بِيَدِهِۦ مَلَكُوتُ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ وَهُوَ يُجِيرُ وَلَا يُجَارُ عَلَيْهِ إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ﴾، قال ابن كثير: «كانت العرب إذا كان السيد فيهم فأجار أحدا، لا يخفر في جواره، وليس لمن دونه أن يجير عليه، لئلا يفتات عليه»، ثم قال: «وهو السيد العظيم الذي لا أعظم منه، الذي له الخلق والأمر، ولا معقب لحكمه». وتختم سورة يس: ﴿فَسُبْحَـٰنَ ٱلَّذِى بِيَدِهِۦ مَلَكُوتُ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ وَإِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ﴾، قال السعدي: «فإعادته إياهم بعد موتهم، لينفذ فيهم حكم الجزاء، من تمام ملكه».
All Intercession Belongs to Allah
﴿قُل لِّلَّهِ ٱلشَّفَـٰعَةُ جَمِيعًا ۖ لَّهُۥ مُلْكُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ۖ ثُمَّ إِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ﴾Say, “All intercession belongs to Allah ˹alone˺. To Him belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth. Then to Him you will ˹all˺ be returned.”
39:44: all intercession belongs to Allah alone; to Him belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth. The whole matter is His, al-Sa'di explains, so every intercessor fears Him and none speaks without His leave. When He wills mercy for a servant, an honoured intercessor is allowed to speak, a mercy to both of them. Ask it of the One who owns it, then, and worship only Him. Nothing created ever leaves His kingdom, he adds on 64:1. And every evening the Prophet ﷺ said the kingdom too had entered the evening belonging to Allah; his words are in the du'a below.
Arabic: قل لله الشفاعة جميعا
تقول آية الزمر: ﴿قُل لِّلَّهِ ٱلشَّفَـٰعَةُ جَمِيعًا ۖ لَّهُۥ مُلْكُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ۖ ثُمَّ إِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ﴾، قال السعدي: «لأن الأمر كله للّه.وكل شفيع فهو يخافه، ولا يقدر أن يشفع عنده أحد إلا بإذنه، فإذا أراد رحمة عبده، أذن للشفيع الكريم عنده أن يشفع، رحمة بالاثنين». ثم قال: «فالواجب أن تطلب الشفاعة ممن يملكها، وتخلص له العبادة». وقال في أول التغابن: «وأن الملك كله لله، فلا يخرج مخلوق عن ملكه». وكان النبي ﷺ يقول إذا أمسى إن الملك قد أمسى لله، في الدعاء الآتي.
From the Sunnah
On the Day of Resurrection Allah will hold the whole earth and fold the heaven with His right hand and say, 'I am the King: where are the kings of the earth?
يَقْبِضُ اللَّهُ الأَرْضَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ، وَيَطْوِي السَّمَاءَ بِيَمِينِهِ ثُمَّ يَقُولُ أَنَا الْمَلِكُ أَيْنَ مُلُوكُ الأَرْضِ
A du'a with this Name
أَمْسَيْنَا وَأَمْسَى الْمُلْكُ لِلَّهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لاَ شَرِيكَ لَهُ
We entered upon evening and the whole Kingdom of Allah also entered upon evening and praise is due to Allah. There is no god but Allah, the One Who has no partner with Him.
Sahih Muslim 2723: what the Prophet ﷺ said when evening came, as Abdullah ibn Mas'ud reported
Related Names
Questions about Maalik-Ul-Mulk
What does Maalik-Ul-Mulk mean?
Sovereignty owned outright: Maalik-Ul-Mulk is the only owner of all creation, free to act however He wills.
How many times is Maalik-Ul-Mulk in the Quran?
Maalik-Ul-Mulk is mentioned twice in the Quran. Its verse, 3:26, is a prayer that opens with the Name.
How did the Prophet ﷺ say the prayer of 3:26?
In four ways, Ibn Kathir says, the Prophet ﷺ was to say 3:26: glorifying Allah, trusting Him, giving thanks, and handing the matter over.
Why did Muslim states lose their rule, according to al-Sa'di?
Muslim states lost their rule above all by leaving the religion, al-Sa'di says on 3:26, and with it the splitting apart that emboldened their enemies.