The Holy Qur'an

Key Word Analysis of Māliki Yawmid-Dīn

{مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ}

Master of the Time of Judgement (5) 

(5) Key Word Analysis 

(مالكmālik)

 مَلَكmalak,مَلِكmalikand مالِكmālikare three similar words.Mālikmeans the one who rightfully owns a thing or who wields rightful authority over it; malakmeans angel and malikmeans a king, i.e., the one who exercises political authority.

(يَوْم– yawm)

This means absolute time. The Noble Qur’an says:

وَإِنَّ يَوْمًا عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ كَأَلْفِ سَنَةٍ مِمَّا تَعُدُّونَ 

That is, some days of God Almighty are one thousand years long[i]. A poet says:

يوماه يومُ نَدًى ويومُ طِعانِ

‘The one whom I praise only spends his time in two ways: either he is being generous to others, or he is killing his enemies.[ii]

Likewise, the Arabs say:

يوما يوم نُعْمٍ ويومُ بُؤسايالدهر

i.e., time has only two possibilities: either it bestows favours on man, or it brings him trouble. Similarly, Sībawayh asserts that the Arabs say:

أنا اليوم أفعل كذا لا يريدون يوما بعينه ولكنهم يريدون الوقت الحاضر[iii]

i.e., when an Arab says, ‘I’ll do this today’, by ‘today’ they do not mean the twenty-four-hour day, but rather the present time. Likewise, the Qur’anic verse

الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ[iv]

does not refer to a particular day; rather, it refers to an era and time. Then it is written,

وقد يراد باليوم الوقت مطلقا،ومنه الحديث: تلك أيام الهرج أي وقته[v]

That is to say, at times yawmmay refer to time absolutely as it in the hadith: ‘These are the days of evil and war.’ Which indicates that this is the era of evil and war. 

(الدِّينad-Dīn)

[ad-Dīn has the following connotations]

 الجزاء والمكافأة(al Jazaa wal Mukaafaat) – reward;

 الطاعة(at-Taa’at) – obedience;

 الحساب(al-Hisaab)- reckoning;

 القهر؛الغلبة؛الاستعلاء؛- (al-Qahr)dominance;

 والسلطان؛والملكالحكم– (al-Hukm wal Mulk was Sultan)authority;

 السيرة– (as-Seerat)disposition;

 التدبير– (at-Tadbeer)the management and regulation of affairs;

اسم لجميع ما يُعبد بهالله- dīnalso refers to all the ways in which Allah the Exalted is worshipped, that is,sharī‘ah.

Further connotations of ad-Dīnare:

 الملة- religion;

 الورع- piety;

 المعصية- disobedience;

 الحال- a state;

 القضاء- a verdict;

 العادة- custom;

الشأن  – a particular state.[vi]


[i]The Holy Qur’an, 22:48.

[ii]Ibn Manẓūr. 1956. Lisān al-‘arab. Beirut: Dār Ṣādir. Vol. 12. p. 650.

[iii]Ibn Manẓūr. 1956. Lisān al-‘arab. Beirut: Dār Ṣādir. Vol. 12. p. 650.

[iv]The Holy Qur’an, 5:4.

[v]Ibn Manẓūr. 1956. Lisān al-‘arab. Beirut: Dār Ṣādir. Vol. 12. p. 650.

[vi]Ash-Sharṭūnī, Sa‘īd al-Khūrī. 1983. Aqrab al-mawārid. Qom: Maktabat Āyat Allāh al-‘Uzmā al-Mar‘ashī an-Najafī. p. 362.