Names and Attributes of Allaah - , Using the masculine pronoun “He” when referring to Allah, may He be exalted.

Why when refering to Allah in the Quran or Hadeeth we say HE or HIM
how do we know that allah is a he, I had a non muslim girl come upto
me saying why dont you say she or her why isit you say he?.
Praise be to Allaah.
We do not know to whom we should address our answer. Should we speak
to you, as you are the one who put this question to us, or should we
address that girl with whom the Shaytaan is toying and causing her to
say audacious things about Allah, may He be exalted,when He is giving
her respite? She has not stopped at disbelieving in Him; rather she
has gone further by trying toexpress her foolish ideas, that anyone
with (sound) reasoning would not accept even ifhe was a disbeliever
like her. And you – and here is the cause of the problem – are
listening to her and you think that she said something worth asking
about and are anxious to find an answer for her.
Whatever the case, we are concerned now for you, because she did
notask us and she is not a follower of our religion such that we could
give her an answer on the basis of what we believe, although our
answer will, in sha Allah, be appropriate to answer her too, if she is
one of those among her people who possess reason.
You should know that the reason for this girl's question is her
ignorance of the Arabic language that we speak and, indeed, her
ignorance of other languages.
The linguist Abul-Fath ibn Jinni said: Chapter on that in which
knowledge of Arabic could ensure sound understanding of religious
beliefs. It should be noted that thischapter is one of the most
important chaptersin this book and that thebenefit thereof is very
great indeed. That is because for most of the Muslims who went astray
from the right path and drifted away from proper understanding, what
caused them to go astrayand go against what reason dictates is their
weak understanding of this noble language through which all of mankind
are addressed, and the ultimate fate of a person, whether in Paradise
or Hell, is connected to understanding this language…. End quote.
al-Khasaa'is, 3/248
It should be noted that one of the basic principles of communication
is that everything is to be spoken of in such a way that it makes it
stand outand distinguishes its gender. This is an ancient phenomenon
in human languages, but there are some things that have nothing to do
with real gender, as is the case with inanimate objects such as stones
and mountains, and concepts such as justice and generosity, and so on.
In these cases, masculinity and femininity are not applicable in the
true sense of these two words. It seems that this is the reason why
some languages divide nouns into three categories: masculine,
feminine, anda third category which in Indo-European languages is
called neuter; this refers to thatwhich is neither masculine nor
feminine.
But not all human languages have this category. Semitic languages, for
example, divide nouns of the thirdcategory, which is neuter, between
the firsttwo categories. So nouns in these languages are all either
masculine or feminine.
This is also the case in the French language, in which all nouns can
onlybe either masculine or feminine. English differs from French in
this regard.
See the Introduction by Dr. Ramadan 'Abd at-Tawwaab (may Allah have
mercy on him) to the book al-Bulghah fi'l-Mudhakkar wa'l-Mu'annath by
Ibn al-Anbaari, 37-39
Now we know that dividing things into masculine and feminine – even in
the case of thatwhich cannot really be described as such – is
thefeature of most languages, especially living languages that
arespoken now, and this is not something that is unique to Arabic. So
now you know that if it is possible to describe anything as being
eithermasculine or feminine, when it cannot be described as such in
any real sense, then a language may prefer to speak of something in
the masculine, as that is easier and it is the basic principle; there
is no need to add any specific marker [such as an extra letter or
syllable to indicate the feminine], as the feminine stems from the
masculine.
The imam of the grammarians, Seebawayh (may Allah have mercy on him)
said:It should be noted that the masculine form is easier for them to
use than the feminine, because the masculine form is the original and
is more established (in the language), and the feminine form is
derivedfrom the masculine. Do you not see that the word ash-shay'
(thing) isapplicable to everything that we know about, regardless of
whether it is masculine or feminine,and the word ash-shay' is a
masculine noun.
Kitaab Seebawayh, 1/22;see also 3/241
If the matter may be either of two things, but one of them is more
likely than the other, even in one sense, it then becomes inevitable
that the Lord should have the nobler and more sublime of the two.
As-Sawaa'iq, 4/1308
Hence you will find that most of those who believe that there is a God
above the heavens refer to Him in the masculine, which is more
befitting to Him, may He be glorified. Thisis something natural that
does not need any research, examination orevidence. You will not find
anyone, knowledgeable or ignorant, monotheist or polytheist, who does
notrefer to God, may He be exalted, as "He". If anyone were to refer
to Him in the feminine, as this poor girl said, he would be opposed
and accused of ignorance and clear misguidance.
So how about if we add to the above what Allah, may He be exalted, has
said of Himself in His holy Book – and indeed in all the revealed
Books – using that (masculine) pronoun.
Allah, may He be exalted,says (interpretation of the meaning):
"It is He Who has createdthe heavens and the earth in truth, and on
the Day (i.e. the Day of Resurrection) He will say:"Be!", - and it
shall become. His Word is the truth. His will be the dominion on the
Day when the trumpet will be blown. All-Knower of the unseen and the
seen.He is the All-Wise, Well-Aware (of all things)."
[al-An'aam 6:73]
"And He it is Who originates the creation, then will repeat it (after
it has been perished), and this is easier for Him. His is the highest
description (i.e. none has the right to be worshipped but He, and
there is nothing comparable unto Him) inthe heavens and in the earth.
And He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise."
[ar-Room 30:27]
"It is He (Allah) Who is the only Ilah (God to be worshipped) in the
heaven and the only Ilah(God to be worshipped) on the earth. And He is
the All-Wise, the All-Knower."
[az-Zukhruf 43:84].
And there are many similar verses, too many to list here.
Moreover, Allah, may He be exalted, criticised the mushrikeen
(polytheists)for their claim to worship Allah, the One, the Subduer,
yet they worshipped females besides Him, and He criticised them for
that and explained how abhorrent their deeds were. Allah, may He be
exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
"They (all those who worship others than Allah) invoke nothing but
female deities besides Him (Allah), and they invoke nothing but
Shaitan (Satan), a persistent rebel!"
[an-Nisa' 4:117].
Imam at-Tabari (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Here Allah, may He
be glorified, is saying: With regard to these people who associated
others with Allah and worshipped idols and rivals, it is sufficient
evidence against them of misguidance, disbelief and going astray from
the right path, to note that they worshipped females and called them
"gods" and "lords", when the feminine of any thing is inferior,
andthey affirmed their servitude to that which is inferior of any
thing, even though they knew that it was inferior, and they refused to
devote sincere worship to the One Who is in control of all things and
in Whose hand is the creation and the commandment.
Tafseer at-Tabari, 9/211, Mahmoud Shaakir edn.
Shaykh Ibn Sa'di (may Allah have mercy on him) said: That is, these
mushrikeen do not call upon and worship besides Allah anything but
that which is feminine, namely idols and statues with feminine names,
such as al-'Uzza, Manaat and so on.
It is well known that the name is indicative of thething that is
named. If the names are feminine and inferior, that may point to some
inferiorityin the thing that is thus named, and they suggestthat it is
lacking attributes of perfection, as Allah has told us in more than
one place in His book that they cannot create, provide or protect
their worshippers, or even bring any benefit or ward off any harm from
themselves, and they cannot defend themselves against anyone who wants
to harm them; they cannot hear or see or understand. So how can the
one that is like that be worshipped instead of the One to Whom belong
the most beautiful names and sublime attributes such as
praiseworthiness, perfection, glory, majesty, might, beauty, mercy,
kindness, compassion, the unique power to create and control, and
great wisdom in all that He commands and decrees?
Is that not the most abhorrent thing that is indicative of a person's
imperfection and reaching the lowest levelof baseness that is
worsethan anyone could imagine or describe?
End quote from Tafseer as-Sa'di, 203.
However, we would like to point out that Allah, may He be exalted,
cannot be described as masculine or feminine inany true sense; rather
that (use of the masculine pronoun) is necessary for the purpose of
communication in human languages and what people need in communicating
ideas about Allah. Everything that is either masculine or feminine is
somethingthat is created and Allah,may He be exalted, is theCreator of
the masculine and feminine.
"And that He (Allah) creates the pairs, male and female"
[al-Najm 53:45].
Exalted be Allah above having any rival or peer, spouse or child.
"He is the Originator of the heavens and the earth. How can He have
children when He has nowife? He created all things and He is the
All-Knower of everything."
[al-An 'a am 6:101].
Allah tells us about the believers among the jinnthat when they heard
the Qur'aan, they believed in it and acknowledged their Lord, may He
be glorified:
"And exalted be the Majesty of our Lord, He has taken neither a
wife,nor a son (or offspring or children)."
[al-Jinn 72:3].
What you have to do is tell her to look into her Scripture, if she
believes that there is a God who sent a Messenger and revealed a Book
to him; let her look in it and learn why.
If she burst with anger and her heart was filled with anger because
she is female and Allah, may He be exalted, cannot bedescribed in the
feminine, then kufr in our times has reached such a level of craziness
that you find a female wanting to stand up for her gender, on the
basis of truth or falsehood, like the attitude of thosewho are
ignorant and feel inadequate, so they try to compensate for that even
on the basis offalsehood.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:The
one who defends himself on the basis of falsehood wants to defend
everything he says, even if it is wrong.
Majmoo' al-Fataawa, 10/292
If the ignorance and feeling of inadequacy has reached the level of
likening Allah to His creation and even to thefemale of His creation,
this is a state that even the ignorant Arabs in their worship of idols
did not reach, for they knew that Allah, the Creator and Provider, was
far greater than those idols and it was not befitting that He should
be like them.
Beware of every ignorant heretic and remember that a person would
follow the religion of his friend, so watch you make friends with.
"Glorified be your Lord, the Lord of Honour and Power! (He is free)
from what they attribute untoHim!"
[as-Saaffaat 37:180].
And Allah knows best.

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