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Fatwa CenterReference to Allah as masculine
Question
Why is Allah (SWT) always referred to as He and why not She. Though we all know that He is of neither sex. My intended wife is a bit of a feminist. She keeps asking me this question and more often that not, I am answerless. Please help me out.
Answer
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.
Allah is referred to only by what Allah Himself or His Prophet have established as a reference to Allah. Masculinity or feminity are not among the Attributes of Allah The Almighty. Indeed Allah is Greater and Higher than that.
As for referring to Allah as "He" it is conform with the rules of the Arabic language which is the language of the Qur'an. In fact in Arabic there is only the pronoun of masculinity or that of feminity. The Masculine pronoun is independent by itself whereas the pronoun of feminity needs a letter to be added to it and to any part of the sentence that is linked to that pronoun. So, since the Masculine pronoun is independent by itself and does not need any addition to be specified unlike the famine pronoun it is then used to express:
1. What is certain to be masculine.
2. A thing whose gender is unknown.
3. What is not described as masculine or feminine.
So, this is why we say: Allah Says He Says:- Gabriel says He Says. Israfil came He came. Although the gender of Allah as well as that of the Angels is indefinite.
Moreover know that referring to something with a masculine pronoun does not necessarily mean that it is masculine or feminine. For instance in Arabic, we refer to the book as "he" and to the newspaper as "she". In French we refer to the house as "she" and we refer to the castle as "He". This does not mean that the book and the castle are "males"; neither does it mean that the newspaper and the house are "females".
Finally we remind you that this matter should be looked at from a spiritual and religious point of view as that is the only true way to look at things and judge them.
As for the claim of equality between sexes there are some details about it that should be known to both men and women.
In fact the man and the woman are equal in their humanity. They are equal as far as the honour and respect that Allah has given to human beings.
Allah Says . The man and the woman are also equal as far as the obedience to Allah's orders is concerned. Both of them are awaiting the same destiny: Death, Resurrection, Punishment, Reward, Paradise and Hell.
However, there are differences between men and women that return to their own creation, their own body formation. While the man is usually strong, tough, and firm the woman is usually soft, gentle and light hearted. Among the physical differences we mention also the fact that the woman menstruates, conceives, delivers while the man can not do any of these things.
For these differences, Allah has - out of His Mercy and His Wisdom -lightened and eased some of the Orders He has Prescribed on human beings for women because of the very nature of the woman. Allah has dropped the prayer and the fasting from the religious duties of the woman who is menstruating or who is in her confinement period. Allah has also given the pregnant woman and the woman breast-feeding the right to break the fast. He has also dropped the obligation of Jihad from the religious duties of the woman because of her nature.
Allah knows best.
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