What is the gender of Allah?

Question: I am a revert and have a humble question which confused me a bit. While reading quran i came across the verses and was wondering Why does Quran say “He” for Allah? Is He male?

All Praise be to Allah

Summary: The use of “He” in reference to Allah is a matter of linguistic convention, not biological gender. In Arabic, the word “He” (هو) has a broader usage that includes situations where gender is irrelevant, and the masculine form is often the default grammatical choice.

Detailed Answer: In the Arabic language, there are only two pronouns: “He” (هو) and “She” (هي). There is no neutral pronoun equivalent to “it” as in English. Therefore, all things that do not explicitly have a feminine marker are referred to with the masculine pronoun by default. This use of “He” is simply a matter of Arabic grammar and does not imply that Allah is biologically male or has a physical gender.

In Arabic grammar, masculinity is often used as a default or generic form, even for entities that do not have any gender, including abstract concepts. For example, in Arabic, the word for “tree” (شجرة) is grammatically feminine, but this does not imply that a tree has a biological gender. Similarly, the masculine “He” is used for Allah, but this is not meant to attribute any human or biological characteristics to Him. Allah is beyond human concepts of gender, and the pronoun used is merely a grammatical tool, not an indicator of maleness.

This principle is similar to grammatical gender usage in other languages like Spanish or French, where objects are assigned masculine or feminine gender. For example, in Spanish, “el libro” (the book) is masculine, while “la biblioteca” (the library) is feminine. These grammatical genders do not imply anything about the nature of the objects themselves.

Furthermore, Arabic employs similar conventions for other divine references. For instance, the pronouns “inna” (إنا) and “nahnu” (نحن), which are often translated as “We” in English, do not imply that Allah is plural. Instead, they denote a majestic form or a “royal we” that conveys greatness and authority. Similarly, using “He” (هو) to refer to Allah is a linguistic convention without any implication of physical gender.

In short, the masculine pronoun for Allah is used as a default grammatical form in Arabic, not because Allah has a gender. The notion of attributing biological characteristics to Allah is incorrect, as Allah is far beyond any such human limitations.

And Allah Knows Best