In Islamic belief, Maalik (Arabic: مَٰلِكُ|mālik)[1] denotes an angel in Hell/Purgatory (Arabic: جهنم|[[jahannam]]) who guarded the Hellfire and assisted by other angel guards (Q) known as Zabaniyah (Arabic: الزبانية|az-zabānīya). In the Qur'an, Maalik is mentioned in as the chief of angels of hell. The earliest codices offer various alternative spellings of this word including, meaning "angel", instead of a proper name.[2]
In and the following, the Qur'an describes Maalik telling the people in hell that they must remain there: points out, that the punishments are carried out by God's command: "O believers! Protect yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is people and stones, overseen by formidable and severe angels, who never disobey whatever Allah orders—always doing as commanded."
See main article: Isra and Mi'raj.
According to Islamic tradition, Muhammad met the angel Maalik during his heavenly journey. Therefore, Muhammad arrived in heaven and all the angels greeted him with a smile except Maalik. When Muhammad asked Jibra'il, why he remains taciturn therefore, he reveals Maalik as the guardian of Hell who never smiles. After that, Muhammad asked him to show Hell and Maalik opened its gates, showing him a glimpse of suffering for the inmates.[3] [4]
According to Abbasid jurist Ibn Qutaybah, who's also known as Al-Qutb, the number of fingers Maalik possessed are equal to the sinners who would be thrown into hell.[5] Ibn Qutaybah also narrated that each of Maalik's fingers are extremely hot, that if one of them touched the sky; that finger will cause the sky to melt. al-Suyuti also quoted that since his creation which spans a thousand years before hell's formation, Maalik's strength always grow infinitely over the time as each day passed. Ibn Hisham narrated that in several Hadiths, Muhammad has met Maalik on one occasion and described that the angel possessed a very disgustingly ugly face. In one narration of Hadith, Maalik's true face is so ugly beyond comprehension, that if any human in their lifetime saw him, they would be killed in suffering and anguish just by merely bearing witness of Maalik's ugliness.
Medieval Hagiographer Ibn Ishaq has narrated hadith about Isra Mi'raj, where during his journey to the sky, Muhammad noticed that among the angels who greeted him, Maalik was one of them, who, unlike the other angels, never showed a smile or any sign of joy.[6] According to various Hadiths quoted by Ibn Hisham in his book, Muhammad asked Jibril to see hell, which Jibril responded by asking Maalik to show Muhammad the view of the horrors of hell.