Mālik
مَالِك
Say it MAA-lik
Owner, master
At a glance
- Gender
- Boy
- Origin
- Arabic
- Also spelled
- Malik, Maalik, Malek
Meaning & source
Owner, master.
In 43:77 Mālik is the angel who keeps the Fire. Ibn al-Qayyim says naming anyone “king of kings” is forbidden (Tuḥfat al-Mawdūd), but Mālik itself is a long-used name.
-
وَفِي التَّنْزِيلِ: مالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ
Ibn Manẓūr, Lisān al-ʿArab, vol. 10, p. 491 (Dār Ṣādir, Beirut, 3rd ed. 1414 AH)
Ruling
What the scholars said about this name
This word is also one of Allah’s names. Ibn al-Qayyim says names that belong to Allah alone (al-Aḥad, al-Ṣamad, al-Khāliq and the like) may not be given to anyone. Names that are used of Allah and of people, such as raḥīm and raʾūf, may describe a person, but a person is not to be called by them in the absolute way Allah is. In practice the name is given without “al-”, or the ʿAbd form is used, as in ʿAbd al-Karīm.
-
وَأما الْأَسْمَاء الَّتِي تطلق عَلَيْهِ وعَلى غَيره كالسميع والبصير والرؤوف والرحيم فَيجوز أَن يخبر بمعانيها عَن الْمَخْلُوق وَلَا يجوز أَن يتسمى بهَا على الْإِطْلَاق بِحَيْثُ يُطلق عَلَيْهِ كَمَا يُطلق على الرب تَعَالَى
General guidance, not a fatwa. Ask your imam about your own family.