Malaka

ملكةmalaka

Preferred translation
settled disposition
Also rendered contextually as
[settled] disposition, dispositions
Grammatical variants
settled dispositions
Technical sense
a firmly rooted disposition from which action proceeds with ease and little deliberation
Distinguish from
istiʿdād (preparedness) — istiʿdād is preparedness or capacity for a perfection; malaka is the disposition already settled and rooted, even where both are rendered ‘disposition’.

General Technical Meaning

A malaka is a firmly rooted psychic quality established through repeated practice. Its corresponding act or affection issues from it without deliberation.

In ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī’s Works

In al-Manāmāt wa-l-Nubuwwāt, ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī defines malaka as a firmly rooted cognitive form from which action proceeds with ease, with little deliberation or disturbance of the soul. Repeated arrival of the form strengthens its rootedness and makes it increasingly difficult to remove. He contrasts it with ḥāl, which lies on the path toward malaka and is preliminary to it.

Source: Risālat al-Manāmāt wa-l-Nubuwwāt

Read in context

Open a passage in the edition where this term is linked.

Canonical address: /glossary/malaka/