هُوَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِى لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ۖ عَـٰلِمُ ٱلْغَيْبِ وَٱلشَّهَـٰدَةِ ۖ هُوَ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ ٢٢هُوَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِى لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ٱلْمَلِكُ ٱلْقُدُّوسُ ٱلسَّلَـٰمُ ٱلْمُؤْمِنُ ٱلْمُهَيْمِنُ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلْجَبَّارُ ٱلْمُتَكَبِّرُ ۚ سُبْحَـٰنَ ٱللَّهِ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ ٢٣هُوَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْخَـٰلِقُ ٱلْبَارِئُ ٱلْمُصَوِّرُ ۖ لَهُ ٱلْأَسْمَآءُ ٱلْحُسْنَىٰ ۚ يُسَبِّحُ لَهُۥ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ۖ وَهُوَ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلْحَكِيمُ ٢٤

“He is Allah, other than whom there is no deity, Knower of the unseen and the witnessed. He is the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful. He is Allah , other than whom there is no deity, the Sovereign, the Pure, the Perfection, the Bestower of Faith, the Overseer, the Exalted in Might, the Compeller, the Superior. Exalted is Allah above whatever they associate with Him. He is Allah , the Creator, the Inventor, the Fashioner; to Him belong the best names. Whatever is in the heavens and earth is exalting Him. And He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise.” [Quran 59:22-24]

SCENE:

Professor Hums: <combing his hair, humming a tune> I’m just getting spruced up to meet the king. I want to make sure I make a good impression and present my best self.

King Hasan: I, the mighty King Hasan, do strongly prefer well-dressed and impeccably clean subjects. After all, I am the King and only the finest deserve my royal audience.

SCENE:

Jester: How are you and this piece of wood the same?

King Hasan: Umm..how?

Jester: You are both rulers, my dear King!

Aunty Hiba: Oh are we speaking of kings today? Well, then listen...one of the beautiful names of Allah is Al Malik, which means The King. Allah is the King of the heavens and the earth! Grander than grand, mightier than mighty, more kingly than any and all worldly kings! Allah, Al Malik also likes his subjects to be clean and well dressed when they turn to Him. Can you say Al Malik?

Aunty Hiba: Malik, Maleek and Maalik are all Names of Allah and they all come from the root Meem-laam-kaaf,  or the word Mulk. What is Mulk? Simply put it means the kingdom but as a word, the word Mulk implies three main things: ownership, authority and ability. 

SCENE: 

Dr. Fatima: So, again, exactly which one of us has the most important role when it comes to this cat’s health? 

King Hasan: I have proclaimed, by royal order, that vaccinations be available for all cats in my royal kingdom. Now, I don’t actually own any cats myself and I don’t know how to give the shots that cats need. Which means... I don’t have ownership, nor do I have ability but I do have the authority to make the law. Authority is essential! So clearly my role is most important!

Professor Hums: Now that the king has made the vaccine available for all cats in the kingdom, as the owner of the cat, I can make the decision to get my pet cat vaccinated, but I also don’t know how to give a vaccine shot. I have no authority and no ability (droop shoulders) but I do have ownership! (big smile) So it must be me who’s most important. 

Dr. Fatima: I don’t have a pet cat and I can't make laws on making cat vaccines available. But I definitely know how to give a shot! In this case I don’t have authority and I don’t have ownership (shrug shoulders)…but I sure have the ability! (thumbs up). And we can’t do anything without ability. I think I’m most essential.

Aunty Hiba: Hmm...ownership, authority, ability. Looks like King Hasan, Professor Hums and Dr Fatima each have one of the characteristics of being malik. But none of them have the full range of all three meanings that Al Malik does. Allah’s name Al Malik means all three of these things all at the same time, for everything in this world! He has ownership, authority and ability to do anything with absolutely everything in this world and outside this world!

Aunty Hiba: The word mulk is reminding me of a beautiful dua! Did you know The Prophet (s) said: Whoever says a very special phrase 100 times will get lots of rewards? Let’s read it together:

“La ilaha il Allahu wahdahu, la shareeka lahu, lahul Mulk, wa lahul Hamdu, wa huwa alaa kulli shayyin Qadeer”

“None has the right to be worshipped except Allah, alone, without partner, to Him belongs all kingship and praise, and He is over all things Powerful.”

I think we need to practice this a little. With a little practice, InshaAllah we can learn it in no time! Would you like to say it with us three times?

And what are the rewards for saying this?

1) Receive the reward of freeing 10 slaves,

2) Receive 100 hasanaat 

3) 100 bad deeds will be washed away.

4) Shielded from shaytan until the evening.

5) No one will be able to present anything better than this except for someone who recited more than this.

Aunty Hiba: Allah is the King of the sun, the moon, planets, stars, trees, mountains, angels, animals, people... and everything else in the heavens and earth. 

He is also the King of the Day of Judgment. We remind ourselves of this many, many times a day. Do you know when we say He is the King of the Day of Judgment? Let me give you a hint. We say it at least 17 times a day. What surah do you recite 17 times a day? Surah Fatiha!

ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ ٢ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ٣ مَـٰلِكِ يَوْمِ ٱلدِّينِ ٤ إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ ٥ ٱهْدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٰطَ ٱلْمُسْتَقِيمَ ٦ صِرَٰطَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ ٱلْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا ٱلضَّآلِّينَ ٧

SCENE:

King Hasan: Look at the moon, Cat. Look how beautifully it shines by the command of Allah. No king can make the moon shine. All the kings of this world are lowly in the sight of Allah. No matter how great, no matter how powerful, no matter how admired a king may be, like Dhul Qarnayn or Dawood (a) or Sulayman (a) or even me, everyone’s favorite King Hasan, we are all insignificant compared to Allah. I must remember this at all times!

Aunty Hiba: Speaking of the kings of this world, the Prophet (s) told us about an amazing scene that will happen on the Day of Judgment:

Allah ta’ala will hold the earth on the Day of Judgment and He will roll up the skies in His Right Hand and He will say, ‘an al Malik’, I am the King, ‘ayn almuluk al ardh?’, where are the kings of the earth? No one will speak, because Allah ta’ala is THE King on that day, has always been the king and will always be the king. All the kings of earth will be humbled on the Day of Judgment near Allah - Al Malik - The King.

Professor Hums: All owners are accountable for anything they own. Whether it’s a pet, or plants or things like toys and clothes, we must remember to take care of the things we own, because Allah is the ultimate owner of everything. We will have to report to Him on how well we took care of our belongings.

The unjust owners will be in trouble on the Day of Judgment. I’m remembering the story of the lady who owned the cat who did not feed it. I believe I read it recently. The Prophet (s) told us that she would be punished for mistreating her cat. But we’re good Muslims aren’t we? We are not gonna hurt our sweet kitty babies are we, are we? 

Aunty Hiba: The Prophet (s) also used to praise Allah’s Kingship every night  immediately following the witr prayer: Subhaan al-Malik al-Quddoos (Glory is to the King, the Holy) three times, and raising and extending his voice on the third time and then saying: Rabbil-malaa’ikati warroohi (Lord of the angels and the spirit).

SCENE:

Jester: What are you upto these days Professor?

Professor Hums: Well, I’ve actually been studying the sun quite a bit.
Jester: Oh, would you say you have a flare for research?

Professor Hums: Oh ahem, I’ve got one too... Why didn’t the sun go to college?
Jester: It already had a million degrees!

Dr. Fatima: While they’re getting punny, here’s something to think about...Did you know, although the Moon shines bright in the night sky, it doesn’t produce its own light? We see The Moon reflects light from the Sun. And ever noticed how the Moon appears to change shape each night throughout the month? That’s because as the Moon orbits the Earth, the Sun lights up different parts of its surface – so it’s just our view of the Moon that’s changing, not the Moon itself. That’s also why the temperature on the Moon varies from super hot to super cold! When the Sun hits its surface, temperatures can reach scorching levels! And on the part that there’s no sunlight, it can be as cold as -153°C. Brr…

Aunty Hiba: Wow thanks Doc! I like how you showed that scientifically the sun and moon are closely connected. The sun and the moon are mentioned together or close together dozens of times in the Quran too! 

وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ اللَّيْلُ وَالنَّهَارُ وَالشَّمْسُ وَالْقَمَرُ ۚ لَا تَسْجُدُوا لِلشَّمْسِ وَلَا لِلْقَمَرِ وَاسْجُدُوا لِلَّهِ الَّذِي خَلَقَهُنَّ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ إِيَّاهُ تَعْبُدُونَ

“And of His signs are the night and day and the sun and moon. Do not prostrate to the sun or to the moon, but prostate to Allah , who created them, if it should be Him that you worship.” [Quran 50:39]

Allah uses the sun and moon to remind us of His kingdom and to worship only Him. Anyone who realizes that Allah is the true king of the universe can only be humble in front of Allah, he will not raise himself above the level of an ‘abd (slave)

Of course, humility is not just in the heart, but also in a person’s posture and body language. How do true slaves of The King walk on the earth? They walk humbly and gently.

Aunty Hiba: And do you know when the really cool part about Allah being Al Malik, The King? The really cool part is that we can ask Al Malik for anything! Absolutely anything! Nothing is beyond His control or beyond His power. 

In front of a regular king on earth we would make sure to be reasonable about what we are asking for. But in front of The King of kings we don’t need to be shy! We should make big, big, super big duas with the full knowledge that He can fulfill our duas and with the full expectation that He will indeed answer our duas in the best way possible. 

SCENE:

King Hasan <making a grand dua>: Ya Allah, ya Rahman, Ya Raheem! Ya Malikul Mulk! Ya Malikul Mulk! Ya Malikul Mulk! Expand for me my heart and my kingdom. Grow me in wisdom and in wealth. Raise me in this world and in the next. Ya Malik show Me Mercy and make me the most merciful King in the world. Let me be a powerful King and let me be a powerful source of goodness for all!

Aunty Hiba: What a lovely dua by King Hasan balancing dunya and akhira! Let’s all say the Prophet’s (s) dua again together:

“La ilaha il Allahu wahdahu, la shareeka lahu, lahul Mulk, wa lahul Hamdu, wa huwa alaa kuli shayyin Qadeer”

Aunty Hiba: Oooh I think King Hasan is just putting on our favorite tv show. All of us are going to watch it together. Come with?

Aunty Hiba: Wow, that was really fun! I love a good game show! And I am so glad to learn Al Malik today. Allah is the King of us all and of this Universe. Alhumdulillah!

SCENE:

Jester: Knock knock
King Hasan: Who’s there

Jester: Here

King Hasan: Here who?

Jester: Here to proclaim myself the king of jokes!

Aunty Hiba: Oh Jester. Let’s watch our Surah Hashr ayahs again. This time see if you can see and hear the beautiful name of Allah Al Malik!

هُوَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِى لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ۖ عَـٰلِمُ ٱلْغَيْبِ وَٱلشَّهَـٰدَةِ ۖ هُوَ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ ٢٢هُوَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِى لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ٱلْمَلِكُ ٱلْقُدُّوسُ ٱلسَّلَـٰمُ ٱلْمُؤْمِنُ ٱلْمُهَيْمِنُ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلْجَبَّارُ ٱلْمُتَكَبِّرُ ۚ سُبْحَـٰنَ ٱللَّهِ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ ٢٣هُوَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْخَـٰلِقُ ٱلْبَارِئُ ٱلْمُصَوِّرُ ۖ لَهُ ٱلْأَسْمَآءُ ٱلْحُسْنَىٰ ۚ يُسَبِّحُ لَهُۥ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ۖ وَهُوَ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلْحَكِيمُ ٢٤

“He is Allah, other than whom there is no deity, Knower of the unseen and the witnessed. He is the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful. He is Allah , other than whom there is no deity, the Sovereign, the Pure, the Perfection, the Bestower of Faith, the Overseer, the Exalted in Might, the Compeller, the Superior. Exalted is Allah above whatever they associate with Him. He is Allah , the Creator, the Inventor, the Fashioner; to Him belong the best names. Whatever is in the heavens and earth is exalting Him. And He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise.” [Quran 59:22-24]