Detailed Exegesis

Meaning of Mālik:

Mālik, Malik and Malīk are three of the most beautiful names of God the Glorious which have a common root (mulk or milk) and mean a special authority that enables any kind of disposal over the owned object, like the authority a person has over his property or the control and dominion rulers have over people (which is called mulk). Mulk is more general than milk. That is why Rāghib says:

“A malik is one who has commanding and prohibiting authority over the masses of people... and mulk is like a genus for milk. So every milk is mulk, but it is not the case that every mulk is milk.”(223)

The other meanings mentioned for mulk in lexicons, such as strength, intensity, honor, etc. are all requisites and effects of the owner’s authority, not the primary meaning of mulk.

The names Mālik, Malik and Malīk have all appeared in the Noble Qur’an: “Say: O God! Owner (Mālik) of Sovereignty (mulk)!” (3:26), “Exalted is God, the True Sovereign (al-Malik al-Ḥaqq)” (23:116), “In the seat of honor with a most Powerful Sovereign (Malīk Muqtadir)” (54:55).

Meaning of Yawm:

Day (yawm) in common usage means a limited portion of the extension of time, whether short or long. Therefore, it is applied to the period between sunrise and sunset, as well as to broader segments of time. In the Noble Qur’an, yawm has also been used in the sense of manifestation, such as: “Every day (yawm) He is engaged in some matter” (55:29). In this noble verse, yawm does not have its conventional meaning, because the day (yawm) in its conventional sense is also a new matter of God’s grace. And since words are coined for the spirits of meanings, this type of usage is literal, not metaphorical.

Meaning of Dīn:

Dīn is submission and compliance to a specific program or set of regulations. Therefore, two conditions are considered in the meaning of dīn: one is submission and compliance, and the other is that this compliance is to a specific program. As for concepts such as obedience, worship, being subject to rule, being overpowered, surrender, law, or punishment, they are not the primary meaning of the word religion, although they are close to it and counted among its requisites.

Another Proof for the Exclusivity of Praise

The second and third verses of Sūrah al-Ḥamd contain four proofs for the exclusivity of praise to God, the Glorified. The noble verse “Master of the Day of Judgment” (Mālik yawm al-dīn) also presents another proof for the necessity of praise and its exclusivity to the Divine Essence by invoking another one of the Beautiful Names of God, the Glorified. The proof can be presented as follows:

God, the Glorified, is the absolute Master of all the worlds of existence, and His absolute mastery will be manifested on the Day of Judgment. And since the possessor of such dominion and mastery is praiseworthy and deserving of thanks, therefore God, the Glorified, is praiseworthy and deserving of thanks.

Clarifying that God, the Glorified, is the Manager and Nurturer of human beings, and since without eternal life the path of human perfection would be blocked, by establishing the Day of Resurrection, He opens the way for the ultimate perfection of human beings. And since leaving human beings to their own devices would lead to their corruption, He does not abandon them to themselves. Rather, through belief in the Resurrection and remembrance of the Hereafter, which is the best factor for saving human beings from corruption,(224) He nurtures them and ultimately rewards them for their good deeds on the Day of Resurrection.

Therefore, God, the Glorified, firstly: by establishing the Day of Resurrection, opens and smooths the path of human perfection. Secondly, through belief in the Resurrection and the Hereafter, He purifies them. And thirdly, on the Day of Resurrection, He bestows the reward of the righteous upon them. Hence, God, the Glorified, is praiseworthy and deserving of thanks.

The noble verse “Master of the Day of Judgment” (Mālik yawm al-dīn), in addition to being a proof for the necessity of praising God, the Glorified, and in this respect is related to what came before, is also evidence for God being the One worthy of worship and the One whose aid is sought, and in this respect is related to the next verse.

Differences between the Exegetes on the Wording and Meaning of the Verse

With regards to the noble verse “Master of the Day of Judgment” (Mālik yawm al-dīn), there are two main areas of disagreement:

1. Exegetes differ on whether the word mālik can be an adjective for a definite noun like Allah, similar to rabb al-ʿālamīn, al-raḥmān and al-raḥīm, or not.(225) Some have said: In the word mālik, the present or future tense is not implied, rather it is continuous, and a continuous active participle (ism fāʿil) when in a possessive state can serve as an adjective for a definite noun like Allah.(226) Others have considered this analysis deficient, saying that, since the Day of Judgment does not exist yet, therefore mālik in this noble verse has a future meaning and means “will possess” (yamliku), and such an active participle does not acquire definiteness, even when it appears as part of a possessive construct, and therefore cannot be an adjective for Allah, which is definite, as an adjective must agree with the noun it qualifies.(227)

In this disagreement, the first group is correct, because mālik here is an assimilated adjective (ṣifa mushabbahah) that indicates continuity; contrary to what the latter group have said, the Day of Judgment already exists now and, with the folding up of the worldly system, man enters the Day of Judgment. The details and proof of this matter will come in the section on subtleties and allusions of this very verse.

2. Most reciters have recited the word mālik (“Master”) as malik (“Sovereign”), and many exegetes have also preferred this recitation, although the recitation of mālik is now more well-known. Mālik is derived from mulk, and malik is derived from milk, and God being mālik denotes His sustainership (qayyūmiyya) in relation to existents and the dependence of existents on Him. God being malik is also His sovereignty, influence and rule over things.

Each of the proponents of the recitation of malik and mālik have presented arguments to prefer the recitation they favor:

The argument of those who prefer the recitation of malik is the fact it is in a possessive construct with a vessel of time (yawm); mālik is not typically to time, unlike malik which is added to time in expressions like malik ʿaṣr (sovereign of the age), malik dahr (sovereign of the era), etc.; but it is not said: mālik ʿaṣr (master of the age).

The response given to this argument is that the difference between mālik (master) and malik (sovereign) in relation to time applies to conventional ownership, not real ownership. However, for God the Exalted, who is the true origin and source of things, just as the expression malik is correct regarding Him, the expression mālik is also correct. God the Exalted is the source of existence for every being, whether time or non-time, and all are His effects. Thus, the ownership (mulk) and sovereignty (milk) over all things, time and non-time, belong to Him. He is both the Owner (mālik) of time and the Owner of non-time.

The proponents of the reading mālik say: One of the aspects that gives preference to this reading is its broader conceptual scope, such that it also encompasses malik. This is because God the Exalted is the Owner (mālik) of the essence of contingent beings, the Owner of influence and authority over them, and the Owner of the influence and authority of others: “To God belongs the dominion (mulk) of the heavens and the earth” (7:128), “Say: O God, Owner of Sovereignty (mālik al-mulk)” (3:26). The authority of those who possess authority, whether rightful or false, is a bestowal from God, with the difference that rightful authority is a reward, while false authority is a respite and a gradual drawing to destruction by God, the Avenger, the Omnipotent: “And let not those who disbelieve think that the respite We grant them is good for their souls. We only grant them respite that they may increase in sin, and for them is a humiliating punishment” (3:178). Thus, every influence is a bestowal from God, and God has the ownership (mālikiyya) and authority over these influences as well.

Preference for the Reading of “Mālik”

The Holy Qur’an considers the dominion (mulk) of the heavens and the earth to belong to God, stating that sovereignty is in His hand: “Blessed is He in whose hand is the dominion” (67:1), and this dominion (mulk) refers to the authority and rule over the external aspects of things. It also considers the inner dominion (malakūt), the authority and rule over the spirits and inner realities of things, to be in the hand of God, the Glorified: “So glory be to Him in whose hand is the malakūt of all things” (36:83). With this distinction that where it speaks of mulk, it mentions the Names of Beauty (asmāʾ al-jamāliyya) with the invocation “Blessed” (tabāraka), and where it speaks of malakūt, it mentions the Names of Majesty (asmāʾ al-jalāliyya) with the invocation of “Glory” (subḥān).

The word “day” (yawm) and “that day” (yawmaʾidhin) in most of their Qur’anic usages are related to the Hereafter (the intermediary realm, or barzakh, and the Day of Resurrection), and in all those instances, it is used as an adverbial vessel (ẓarf), not as something that is actually owned (mamlūk). This provides a Qur’anic basis (istiʾnās) according to which one can consider it as such a a vessel in the noble verse “Master of the Day of Judgment” (Mālik yawm al-dīn) as well, not as something owned, just as if it were said: “the Judge of the Day of Judgment”, “the Intercessor of the Day of Judgment”. So the discussion is not about God being the Master of the Day of Judgment and the Day of Judgment being owned by God. Rather, the discussion is that the absolute mastership (mālikiyya) of God, the Glorified, over all things becomes manifest in that particular context, and this meaning is more compatible with the reading of mālik.

Therefore, the meaning of the noble verse “Master of the Day of Judgment” (Mālik yawm al-dīn), based on the preference for the reading of mālik, is that on that day, God is the Master of all things and His mastership becomes manifest to all on that day, not that God is the Master of that day.(228)

The meaning of Mālik yawm al-dīn, according to the preference for the reading of mālik, expresses the affirmative aspect of the same reality whose negative aspect is expressed by the noble verse: “The Day when no soul will have power over any other soul and the command that Day will be entirely with God” (82:19).

Although the absolute ownership of God, the Glorified, over things is not exclusive to the Hereafter, this reality becomes fully apparent to everyone on that day and all acknowledge it. Therefore, the Day of Judgment (yawm al-dīn) is presented in the verses of the Noble Qur’an as the context of divine ownership.

The Term “Day” (Yawm) in the Qur’an

As mentioned earlier, in most Qur’anic usages, what is meant by “day” is the Hereafter, such as in “the Day of Judgment” (yawm al-dīn), “the Last Day” (al-yawm al-ākhir) (78:1), “the Day when the Spirit will rise...” (78:2), “the Day when no soul will have power over another soul and the command that Day will be entirely God’s” (82:19). It does not mean day as opposed to night, or in contrast to month and year. It also does not mean the combination of night and day.(229) Rather, it means manifestation, just as in the noble verse “Every day He is engaged in some affair” (55:29), the intention is not that God has some work to do every day and night or every day (as opposed to night), because the day itself is also one of the affairs and works of God. Therefore, “every day” means every manifestation, and the Day of Resurrection means its manifestation.

On the Day of Resurrection, all multiplicities return to unity, and it becomes clear to everyone that it is God the One who manages the universe. With the manifestation of divine unity (tawḥīd), the illusions of dualism and trinitarianism disappear, unlike the beginning of creation where, as it is the day of the manifestation of multiplicity from unity, there is mention of “two days”, “days”, and “six days”.(230) Therefore, day is not used here in contrast to night, day and night, year, and month, because when the heavens and the earth are rolled up like a scroll, there is no longer any discussion of the earth’s rotation on its axis or the movement or rotation of any other celestial body, from which night and day, year and month would emerge. Rather, the very foundation of motion and movement is rolled up.

Based on the premise that “day” in the “Day of Judgment” (yawm al-dīn) and verses related to the Resurrection (qiyāma) means “manifestation” (ẓuhūr), it must be clarified what is meant by this manifestation.

From the numerous verses that introduce the Resurrection as the “Day of Judgment”, it appears that the Resurrection is the day of the manifestation of religion (dīn). For example: “Indeed the wicked will be in Hell, burning in it on the Day of Judgment, and they will not be absent from it.” (82:14-16).(231)

And since religion has many meanings and instances, including recompense, the Resurrection is also called the “Day of Recompense”. However, recompense is only a part of religion (in its comprehensive meaning) which has been used in verses like “Indeed, the religion in the sight of God is Islam” (3:19) and the like. On the Day of Resurrection, religion will manifest in all its dimensions.