99 Names of Allah - 04 - Al-Malik - The Absolute King

[04] اَلْمَلِكُ (Al-Malik): The Absolute King

[Download resources here]

Sing 99 Names (5min)
Play PowerPoint of the first 33 names, 2-3 times. Sing together and do the actions so far plus:

Action for Al-Malik: mime putting a crown on your head.

Today’s focus is on the name Al-Malik which means The Absolute King.

Story relating to today's name (12min)

Watch the episode of Raa Raa the Noisy Lion: Kings and Queens of the Jungle.

Did the other animals like it when Topsy was queen? Why not? She was bossy and didn’t listen to them when they weren’t having fun. She kept telling Raa Raa and Ooh Ooh off. She wasn’t nice when she broke the crown; she just sulked when she didn’t get her way. How did she become a good queen? When she listened to Raa Raa and thought of something the others would like – i.e. when she looked after her subjects properly.

Discuss meaning, apply to children's lives (8min)

Al-Malik means The Absolute King. What is a king’s job? They look after all the people in their kingdom and make sure everything is running smoothly; the whole world, the whole universe, all the heavens and everything in creation is Allah’s kingdom! Allah watches over us and looks after us all. Allah is the Absolute King because he doesn’t need us at all but we all need Him. We worship Him and listen to Him for our own sake.

How are we supposed to treat a king (or queen)? We need to treat Allah with even more respect than any person on this Earth. If Allah has ordered us to do something, we need to obey it! Can you think of any rules Allah has made for us? Things we can’t do? e.g. we can’t eat pork, we shouldn’t use bad language, etc. Things we have to do? e.g. the 5 pillars, we should listen to our parents, etc.

Craft activity (20min)

Complete the page for the book. Use paints, glitter glue, sequins etc. to decorate the crown and make it look special.

Remind the children we cannot imagine what Allah looks like as nothing in this world can compare to Him – we’re just using a picture of a crown since that’s what people who are kings and queens wear. It doesn’t mean that Allah is wearing a crown!

When to use this name (10min)

If you were to meet a king or queen in person, how would you act? What kind of clothes would you wear? Would you look around or not pay attention whilst talking to them? Would you turn up late to the meeting? Every time we read salah, we are standing in front of Allah, Al-Malik, the Creator of Everything. We need to remember this when we pray. We should rush to pray on time, make sure our clothes are tidy, recite our words carefully and pay attention to what we’re doing.

Can you think of a surah which has the word “malik” in it? Recite Surah An-Nas together. Point out the second ayah which means, “The King of mankind.” (N.B. Surah Faatihah has the word "maalik" which is slightly different but the children may think of it too! If they do, this can be a good opportunity to teach the importance of pronunciation when reciting Quran as just one letter can change the meaning of what they say!)

On the back of their page, help the children write a few thoughts about the name Al-Malik and their feelings.

Sticker chart (5min)

Ask individually: Which of Allah’s names did we learn today? What does it mean? Give children a sticker each for their chart.

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Other activities:

- Watch the film “The Lion King”. Discuss how it isn’t easy to be a king – compare what the Pride Lands were like during Mufasa/Simba’s rule and Scar’s. Why did Scar want to be king? Because he was selfish and wanted power and everyone to do everything for him. Was he a good king? Was Mufasa a good king? Did he look after his subjects? Did he put in a lot of hard work, e.g. chasing away the hyenas? Allah is the Greatest King of all – he looks after everyone and everything without any mistakes and without finding it difficult. [Remind: we don’t believe that kings or people turn into stars when they die – what do we believe happens? We wait until the Day of Judgement for Allah to look at all our good deeds so we can go to Jannah.]

- Make a crown out of card and decorate with sequins, tinsel, glitter, etc.

- Play the Pass the Crown game from the Raa Raa episode.

- Role play using soft toys/dolls etc. Have the child pretend to be the king or queen. Let them enjoy having their subjects do everything they say but then have the toys start coming to them with problems and getting upset. Let the child see it isn’t easy being a king – it’s not just about getting their way. But Allah is able to do everything with ease.