Names of God in Islam
In order to explain the complexity of the unity of God and of the divine nature, the Qur'an uses 99 terms referred to as "Excellent Names of God" (Sura 7:180). Aside from the supreme name "Allah" and the neologism al-Rahman(referring to the divine beneficence that creates and maintains the universe) and a few other specific names like al-Maalik al-Mulook ('King of Kings' in an authentic narration of the Prophet), other names may be shared by both God and human beings. According to the Islamic teachings, the latter is meant to serve as a reminder of God's immanence rather than being a sign of one's divinity or alternatively imposing a limitation on God's transcendent nature. Attribution of divinity to a created entity, shirk, is considered a denial of the truth of God and thus a major sin.
Correction In Arabic language, the names or the titles of people come from the epithet, not opposite. For example: the title "king" - "malik" come from an epithet: "authority"
"Al-maalik al-mulook" does not means "king of kings" Reasons: - first: because "maalik" means "the possessor of absolute authority", and does not means "king" - second: because "mulook" means "dominions" - third: "malik" means "he who had the dominion, the power to rule over all the people", and by extension, this concept are translated with the English term "king" - fourth: the plural of "malik" is "amlaak", and not "mulook" source: "Lane Lexicon"
So: "Al-maalik al-mulook" in fact means: "he who have the supreme authority over all the dominions", in other wording: "He Who had the Supreme authority over all His creations " which is God, and no human can share this attribute with Him.
Read more about this topic: Tawhid (Islamic Monotheism)
Famous quotes containing the words names of, names, god and/or islam:
“The pangs of conscience, where are the pangs of conscience? Orestes and Clytemnestra, Reinhold doesn’t even know the names of those fine folk. He simply hopes, heartily and sincerely, that Franz is dead as a doornail and won’t be found.”
—Alfred Döblin (1878–1957)
“There are names written in her immortal scroll at which Fame blushes!”
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830)
“Grumble and swear and curse,
brother, god and the boat,
and the great waves,
but could you guess
what strange terror lurks in the sea-depth,
you’d thank the gods for the ship.”
—Hilda Doolittle (1886–1961)
“Awareness of the stars and their light pervades the Koran, which reflects the brightness of the heavenly bodies in many verses. The blossoming of mathematics and astronomy was a natural consequence of this awareness. Understanding the cosmos and the movements of the stars means understanding the marvels created by Allah. There would be no persecuted Galileo in Islam, because Islam, unlike Christianity, did not force people to believe in a “fixed” heaven.”
—Fatima Mernissi, Moroccan sociologist. Islam and Democracy, ch. 9, Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. (Trans. 1992)