Why do Muslims refer to God as He?

[XAAX]

Just wondering. I know little of the muslim belief. I know why the other religions do already, just curious about muslims.

 

[fullyveiled muslimah]

Just a figure of speach. Lack of better words really. We do not believe that Allah has a gender.

 

[XAAX]

Just a figure of speach. Lack of better words really. We do not believe that Allah has a gender.

That doesn't expain it. Does the quran refer to god as he?

 

[Buttons*]

there's the ever popular "it" lol, but it doesnt strike fear into the hearts of men as much as "he" does

 

[XAAX]

there's the ever popular "it" lol, but it doesnt strike fear into the hearts of men as much as "he" does

You have a point...but neither does he in my opinion.

 

[Radio Frequency X]

Just wondering. I know little of the muslim belief. I know why the other religions do already, just curious about muslims.

It's cultural. Religions which evolved in cultures that were ruled by men refer to God as He. God rules Man. Man rules Woman. It's just the way people used to be and it has carried over to modern man through the years.

 

[astarath]

It is directly derived from the first book of all the Abrahamic Faiths. People translate that when God created man in his image he to must be a man and therefore they call him he.

Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;

 

[jamaesi]

In the Qur'an it doesn't say who was created first, man or woman.

I try not to refer to G-d as male or female, as G-d has no gender. It's just that English lacks a good gender-neutral pronoun- calling my G-d "it" just seems... ugh!

 

[Darkness]

Instead of using He at all, why not merely use Allah? It might sound a little flaky though.

 

[Burchfam]

Allah was the god, and Allat the goddess. But the Muslims later suppressed the female deity.

 

[Booko]

That doesn't expain it. Does the quran refer to god as he?

My religious texts refer to God as "he" also, but like Islam, we also believe that God has no gender.

Having a close relationship with "it" seems a bit harder.

It doesn't seem to be God's problem as much as an artifact of our languages.

 

[Booko]

It's cultural. Religions which evolved in cultures that were ruled by men refer to God as He. God rules Man. Man rules Woman. It's just the way people used to be and it has carried over to modern man through the years.

Explain that in the context of my religion, where equality of men and women is a cardinal princple.

 

[Halcyon]

Allah was the god, and Allat the goddess. But the Muslims later suppressed the female deity.

Its not quite that simple.
Allah was always head of the pre-Islamic polytheist pantheon, so when monotheistic Islam came along all subordinate gods and goddesses became obsolete and only the head of the pantheon remained as the one God. The same thing happened with the formation of the Jewish faith.

 

[Burchfam]

Its not quite that simple.
Allah was always head of the pre-Islamic polytheist pantheon, so when monotheistic Islam came along all subordinate gods and goddesses became obsolete and only the head of the pantheon remained as the one God. The same thing happened with the formation of the Jewish faith.

Interestingly it appears that Allah actually had three daughters: Manat, Uzza, and Allat. This is exactly parallel to Wr-alda having the three daughters Lyda, Finda, and Frya.

 

[TashaN]

Just wondering. I know little of the muslim belief. I know why the other religions do already, just curious about muslims.

Hi there.

You are always welcome to ask questions as much as you want in the Islam forum becuase i don't think this would be a debatable issue but rather, a question and an answer.

This is the Islam forum in RF. We will be so glad with your visit overthere.
http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=11


Regarding your question. In Islam we don't question God attributes because he mentioned it already in the Quran.

Allah said in the Quran describing himself in this great chapter which is equal to 1/3 of the Quran in term of it's value.

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

[1] Say: He is Allah, the One and Only;


[2] Allah, the Eternal, Absolute;


[3] He begetteth not, nor is He begotten;


[4] And there is none like unto Him. (Surah 112:1)


I hope this answered your question already, if it didn't, please don't hesitate to ask again about it or about anything else.

 

[Valjean]

How could the Muslim God (or any God in the Abrahamic tradition) be conceived of as female?!

While there are some sophisticated, progressive Muslim apologists one meets online or hears on the chat shows, in many traditional, rural or tribal areas women are regarded as breeders and servants. They are not considered intellectually or morally competent . They are eternally children, in the care of their parents, husbands or even their children. In some regions they are little more than livestock, traded and sold, kept in the house. When outside the home they are completely shrouded and, ideally, escorted by a male relative, as one would walk a dog.

Why would one refer to a powerful, competent, high-status God with the pronoun denoting the two-legged goats men use as breeders?

I apologize to those Muslims I've undoubtedly offended here, but I believe this to be the stark reality and, as such, a proper subject of reportage.

 

[anders]

It is very normal in languages that have two noun genders to use the masculine as the default value. Masculine forms when referring to the deity in the Bible and the Qur'an don't relate to any (supposed) gender, but is just the way grammar works in Semitic languages.

 

[TashaN]

How could the Muslim God (or any God in the Abrahamic tradition) be conceived of as female?!

While there are some sophisticated, progressive Muslim apologists one meets online or hears on the chat shows, in many traditional, rural or tribal areas women are regarded as breeders and servants. They are not considered intellectually or morally competent . They are eternally children, in the care of their parents, husbands or even their children. In some regions they are little more than livestock, traded and sold, kept in the house. When outside the home they are completely shrouded and, ideally, escorted by a male relative, as one would walk a dog.

Why would one refer to a powerful, competent, high-status God with the pronoun denoting the two-legged goats men use as breeders?

I apologize to those Muslims I've undoubtedly offended here, but I believe this to be the stark reality and, as such, a proper subject of reportage.

Believe it or not !

50% up to 70% of people use words such as "many" and "some" to describe muslims then they jump to the conclusion that all muslims are like such and such (ALL) ???

If you mean all so why not to say it at the beginning?

Unless you think that just because some or many of them do it so by default all of them must do it anyway or must be so !

Are you talking about specific countries or about Islam in general?

Be honest with me (and i know you are) and tell me if you were imagining and putting a speicific country in your mind while typing that post of you.

Why to generalize?

 

[XAAX]

My religious texts refer to God as "he" also, but like Islam, we also believe that God has no gender.

Having a close relationship with "it" seems a bit harder.

It doesn't seem to be God's problem as much as an artifact of our languages.

That or just another poor attempt by a male dominated society to create a religion with them at the top. I don't know when it comes to you though Booko. What religion do you follow?

 

[XAAX]

[1] Say: He is Allah, the One and Only;


[2] Allah, the Eternal, Absolute;


[3] He begetteth not, nor is He begotten;


[4] And there is none like unto Him. (Surah 112:1)

Thank you truth, this answers my question. Next question: If Allah has no gender, why would he be refered to as a He?