Understanding the Ninety-Nine Names of Allah: Al-Malik
Another one of Allah’s names is Al-Malik, the Possessor. Allah absolutely possesses everything and nothing possesses Him. Acting according to this name entails that we acknowledge that we are Allah’s possession.
As Allah has absolute possession over everything, we must rely on none other than Allah. After all, if a king sends a servant to perform an errand he will ensure that the servant has the proper provisions. Likewise, Allah provides for His servants as He pleases. We must also remember that if He withholds, He withholds because it is His right. “Truly! To Allah we belong and truly, to Him we shall return.” [Quran 2:156].
Also, Allah has allotted His creation with possessions. The least one is given is his own body. This body must be possessed and not become the possessor. In his book, The Alchemy of Happiness, Imam al-Ghazali compares the human body to a kingdom. The intellect is like the vizier who gives sound advice yet might also have egotistical designs of his own. The limbs and organs are like farmers who produce goods for the body but might get greedy. Anger is like the police force that prevents injustice but might themselves become instruments of injustice at times. In the middle of it all is the heart which is the possessor of the body. If the heart desires something, the rest of the limbs will follow. Thus, the focal point of reforming the self is the heart because it is the heart that has the capacity to maintain balance over the rest of the body by reining in the other faculties the same way that a just king maintains balance in his kingdom by reining in the various segments of society. “Truly in the body there is a morsel of flesh which, if it be whole, all the body is whole and which, if it be diseased, all of it is diseased. Truly it is the heart.” [Narrated by Bukhari and Muslim]. As such, if one seeks to draw closer to Allah, one must focus on his heart and strive to purify it which in turn will lead to the correction of the rest of the body.
So possess your body well so that it conforms to the reality of it being Allah’s possession!
Allah’s Impoverished Servant,
-Ibraheem Shakfeh
