Maalik (Málik) is the angel who is the keeper of Hell (Jahannam) in Islamic tradition: the stern and mighty angel who presides over the Fire and commands the Zabániyah, the angels of punishment, the guardian of the place of torment to whom the damned will appeal in vain, the chief warden of Hell. He is the keeper of Hell, the angel of the Fire.
The Keeper of the Fire
Maalik (Málik) is the angel appointed by God as the keeper and guardian of Hell (Jahannam, the Fire) in Islamic tradition — the chief warden of the place of punishment, named in the Qur’an. He is the counterpart, in a sense, of Ridwan, the angel who is the keeper of Paradise (Janna): as Ridwan guards the Garden, so Maalik guards the Fire. Maalik is a mighty and stern angel, of awesome and forbidding aspect, who presides over Hell and all that happens within it, never smiling, grave and severe in his terrible office.
The Commander of the Angels of Punishment
Maalik commands the Zabániyah — the angels of punishment, the fierce and mighty guardians of Hell (nineteen in number over it, according to the Qur’an) who carry out the chastisement of the damned. Under Maalik’s authority, these angels administer the torments of the Fire upon those condemned to it. Maalik is thus the chief of the keepers of Hell, presiding over the punishment of the wicked, the unbelievers, and the damned who have earned the Fire by their deeds.
The Appeal of the Damned
The Qur’an gives a stark image of Maalik and the despair of the damned: the people of the Fire, in their torment, will cry out to Maalik, begging him to ask God to make an end of them — to let them die and escape their suffering. But Maalik will answer them, after a long delay, that they will remain — that there is no escape, no end, for they are to abide in their punishment. This terrible exchange marks the finality of the doom of the damned and the stern, inexorable nature of Maalik’s office. As the keeper of Hell, the commander of the angels of punishment, and the stern warden to whom the damned appeal in vain, Maalik holds his place among the great angels of Islamic tradition — the guardian of the place of torment, as others guard the Throne, the trumpet, and the gates of Paradise. In Maalik, Islamic tradition gave form to the keeper of Hell — the stern and mighty angel who presides over the Fire, commands the angels of punishment, and answers the appeal of the damned with the word that there is no escape, the warden of Jahannam.