Why referring to God as 'He'?
Question:
Why God, the Most High is referred as 'He' and why not 'She'? God should be referred to without discriminating, isn't it? Why the men preferred here? I know this question is edgy, But It should have some explanation, shouldn't it?
Answer:
No question is edgy. Human being has every right to ask any question that comes to mind. If there is a blame, it has to be on edgy answers!
First, please note, in the Arabic language we do not have neutral pronoun/verb. So when you write 'God should be referred to without discriminating', this would be impossible in the Arabic language and also this is not 'discriminating' in its negative meaning. In this language you have to use masculine or feminine for every noun, concept and object. This means in Arabic language, due to the structure of the language, God has to be referred to either with masculine verbs and pronouns or feminine verbs and pronouns. There is no other way.
Second, please note, in Arabic a male pronoun/verb does not always imply a gender specification. In Arabic sun is referred to with female pronoun while moon is referred to with male pronoun. This does not mean that to Arabs sun is a female and moon is a male.
Third, it is a linguistic principle in Arabic that other than an actual man or woman, every thing else is treated with a masculine pronoun/verb unless there is an indication or feature in it that makes it more appropriate to treat it with a feminine pronoun/verb.
The difficult part is that we are not sure what features were seen as feminine when the Arabic language evolved and established itself as a stand alone language. Determining the origins of the structure and grammar of a specific language is a very complicated subject and nearly impossible. There is an argument that in Arabic the masculine form is overall easier to write and pronounce and that this might be the reason or one of the reasons that by default a noun was treated as masculine. I also do not rule out the possibility that in the mostly male dominant society of the time, in particular in Arabia, it would make much more sense to refer to God, 'the most powerful', with masculine pronoun and verbs. Yet again, a counter argument could be that sun is stronger than moon and yet it is treated as feminine, also that Arabs used to refer to some of their gods as a she. As I wrote, this is a very difficult subject.
So I hope you see that overall, this is not about gender discrimination. Every Muslim knows that God is not limited by gender. This is simply the way that the language in Arabic works. Note that in comparison, the English language does not use predetermined masculine and feminine pronoun and verbs for other than actual male and female. So there can be some element of 'lost in translation' as well, when we read the English translation of Arabic verses where the word 'God' is treated with masculine forms of verbs and pronouns.
Last point, you may like to know that one of the great female scholars of our time, Amina Wadud, sometimes refers to God as 'She'. I certainly do not see any problem with this and I think it is actually helpful, as it can remind us that when we refer to God as 'He' this has nothing to do with male or female issue.
--------
Farhad Shafti
October 2018
Why God, the Most High is referred as 'He' and why not 'She'? God should be referred to without discriminating, isn't it? Why the men preferred here? I know this question is edgy, But It should have some explanation, shouldn't it?
Answer:
No question is edgy. Human being has every right to ask any question that comes to mind. If there is a blame, it has to be on edgy answers!
First, please note, in the Arabic language we do not have neutral pronoun/verb. So when you write 'God should be referred to without discriminating', this would be impossible in the Arabic language and also this is not 'discriminating' in its negative meaning. In this language you have to use masculine or feminine for every noun, concept and object. This means in Arabic language, due to the structure of the language, God has to be referred to either with masculine verbs and pronouns or feminine verbs and pronouns. There is no other way.
Second, please note, in Arabic a male pronoun/verb does not always imply a gender specification. In Arabic sun is referred to with female pronoun while moon is referred to with male pronoun. This does not mean that to Arabs sun is a female and moon is a male.
Third, it is a linguistic principle in Arabic that other than an actual man or woman, every thing else is treated with a masculine pronoun/verb unless there is an indication or feature in it that makes it more appropriate to treat it with a feminine pronoun/verb.
The difficult part is that we are not sure what features were seen as feminine when the Arabic language evolved and established itself as a stand alone language. Determining the origins of the structure and grammar of a specific language is a very complicated subject and nearly impossible. There is an argument that in Arabic the masculine form is overall easier to write and pronounce and that this might be the reason or one of the reasons that by default a noun was treated as masculine. I also do not rule out the possibility that in the mostly male dominant society of the time, in particular in Arabia, it would make much more sense to refer to God, 'the most powerful', with masculine pronoun and verbs. Yet again, a counter argument could be that sun is stronger than moon and yet it is treated as feminine, also that Arabs used to refer to some of their gods as a she. As I wrote, this is a very difficult subject.
So I hope you see that overall, this is not about gender discrimination. Every Muslim knows that God is not limited by gender. This is simply the way that the language in Arabic works. Note that in comparison, the English language does not use predetermined masculine and feminine pronoun and verbs for other than actual male and female. So there can be some element of 'lost in translation' as well, when we read the English translation of Arabic verses where the word 'God' is treated with masculine forms of verbs and pronouns.
Last point, you may like to know that one of the great female scholars of our time, Amina Wadud, sometimes refers to God as 'She'. I certainly do not see any problem with this and I think it is actually helpful, as it can remind us that when we refer to God as 'He' this has nothing to do with male or female issue.
--------
Farhad Shafti
October 2018
