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As I know Allah doesn't have any sex but I read and hear some Muslims when talk about Allah say : He and Him

How can I call Allah in English?

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    "it" would be horrible, right?
    – user3724492
    Commented Sep 10, 2014 at 4:26
  • There is earth-sky difference between Arabic and English grammer. For example, many languages have a singular and plural, but Arabic has singular, plural and super plural also. If you give some time to study Arabic grammar a little bit, you'll get the difference.
    – mtk
    Commented Feb 2, 2015 at 12:38

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In Arabic, God (Allah) refers to Himself using the male pronoun "هو"; unlike English, the Arabic male pronoun does not imply gender. English, quite frankly, does not have an appropriate pronoun that fully encompasses this.

"He" is the best we have. So that's what we use.

For further details, see also this related post: Refering to Allah (SWT) as “him”?

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The Surah Al-Ikhlas talks about the Allah Almighty in this reference. The Arabic male pronoun does not imply gender as answered by @goldPseudo.

112:1

Say, "He is Allah , [who is] One,

112:2

Allah , the Eternal Refuge.

112:3

He neither begets nor is born,

112:4

Nor is there to Him any equivalent."

Quran:112

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  • Thanks I know it! But my question was why you are using of He in translation to English.
    – Persian Cat
    Commented Feb 25, 2013 at 13:23
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I think this question is trivial and need no more debate. In Arabic and many other languages, we use "He" to refer to neutral beings. It is the problem of English that differentiate male object from female object. Using "He" as God's pronoun is much better than using "it". Since "it" refers to inanimate object, animals, and other living things other than human.

It is more respectful to call Allah a "He" than a "She", because in our 'generalization', "He" is more powerful than "She".

It's just a matter of language perspective. I think that concludes everything.

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Allah is a He and that's how the earliest Muslims recognized him. There is a verse that says "What! For you the Males(as in worship) and for Him the Females(as in partners)."

This is a new concept of a gender-neutral God that has no basis in Quran and Sunnah.

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  • Allah is neither he nor she in the context that He is not part nor is He of His creation. Nor is He like anything we know or comprehend. Nothing is like Him. That verse you quoted is totally out of context. The context of the Ayah you quoted is that the Mushrikeen of the Prophet's time used to hate having a female child, and it is much liked to have a male child, so what they did was say that the angels were Girls, read surat Annajim. Please make sure you properly research for an answer, and give the citations.
    – مجاهد
    Commented Feb 28, 2013 at 2:39
  • Why is it forbidden to say Allah is a She?
    – Ali
    Commented Feb 28, 2013 at 20:53
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    Did Allah ever call Himself She in the Quran? did the Prophet say so, no we cannot say she then.
    – مجاهد
    Commented Feb 28, 2013 at 21:16
  • @مجاهد Exactly! nor did the sahaba and the scholars did.
    – user44632
    Commented Aug 25, 2021 at 22:47

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