Why is the pronoun "he" used for God in English?
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Peace "idolfree",
You mean to tell me that the God "feels" disrespect? You mean the Most High cant even control Its emotions? Cannot transcend animal nature?
You mean to say that the God rather be associated with a human who pollutes the world and sheds blood than a wise ant who works in community as ONE?
Dont animals have gender?
"It" is used because God is above gender distinction. The God is not an object out here some where, It is the core of all beings, male and female.
JK- You mean to say GOD would rather be associated with an even lower species than humans? Thats the point. It's all about a relative perpective. We can sit on the toilet and mention GOD's name and it wouldnt offend Him but i would not do that since relative to me it is disrespectful. Similarly in the English language, arbitrarily or otherwise, the pronoun "it" has become common use for things lower than human beings. So from our perspective it wouldnt be appropriate to use that term for GOD. "He" for GOD was probably usedin the English language because that was the highest species amongst all on earth, particular in strength and rational thinking. So it was used from a relative perspective. We could make a separate pronoun for GOD or dont use a pronoun at all but just GOD. And just as a reminder GOD is neither male nor female NOR A MIXTURE of the two. IN SHORT GOD DESERVES THE STRONGEST PRONOUN AVAILABLE IN THE LANGUAGE! GOD Bless!
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Peace be upon you Johnny K,
I respect your opinion, but I dont see how "he" is the strongest pronoun.
It reminds me of the verse whee God says something like "for them sons and Me daughters" or something like that.
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I would like to know if there is any Koranic basis for using "he" instead of "it" as the pronoun for God in English. I know that in Arabic there is no equivalent of "it", with all nouns being either masculine or feminine, and that the word Allah is masculine.
Many historians would disagree on your assumption that "All?h" is masculine. Why is it that you believe that would be the case?
kind regards,
S -
Peace "idolfree",
Peace be upon you Johnny K,
I respect your opinion, but I dont see how "he" is the strongest pronoun.
It reminds me of the verse whee God says something like "for them sons and Me daughters" or something like that.
JK- But that verse would only make my point stronger. When i read it i understood "for them the strong(men) and for GOD the weaker(female)". This is not meant to degrade the female ofcourse but it does indicate that the pagans wanted for GOD what they considered of less value. GOD Bless!
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Peace be upon you JK,
The moment you address the God as "He", you have limited the God and it most certainly disrespects women.
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Peace "idolfree",
Peace be upon you JK,
The moment you address the God as "He", you have limited the God and it most certainly disrespects women.
JK- The moment you address the God, GOD, as "It" you limit Him to a lower animals. If women are offended by this then they should be really offended by the terms huMAN, MANkind and even the word "woMAN" itself. Think about that. This is the structure of the langauage and the way it works. GOD Bless!
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Peace be upon you,
Yes, I agree that women should disagree with a language created by a culture of women suppressers.
Other than that, if you cannot understand that all creatures are manifestations of the ONE, then I cant make you understand that the God is already associated with animals , humans mountains, and everything else.
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Peace "idolfree",
Yes, I agree that women should disagree with a language created by a culture of women suppressers.
Other than that, if you cannot understand that all creatures are manifestations of the ONE, then I cant make you understand that the God is already associated with animals , humans mountains, and everything else.
JK- I dont agree with the manifestation part though i too believe that GOD is controlling every tiny subatomic particle/wave in the universe, be it a virtual/simulated reality(matrix) which id go for because the Quran says "thius life is an illusion" or otherwise real. In other words we were all once PART of GOD before we separated BUT GOD is continuing to supply us from His energy, without which we cannot live, yet allowing us to pratice our limited free will. Think of it as waves branching away from the master wave but still being dependant on the engergy of the main one. GOD Bless!
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JK- The moment you address the God, GOD, as "It" you limit Him to a lower animals. !
I have to agree with that
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Salaam all,
This gender thing is an issue I guess for a language that has a gender concept. Because in my mother tounge, to refer God we use the word "Dia" or the suffix "-Nya" which is totally genderless.
But I am wondering, do all references to God in the quran is "male" in nature? Or some of them "male" and some "female" in nature?
=adley=
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JK- The moment you address the God, GOD, as "It" you limit Him to a lower animals.
Well, then could "she" be the correct term in English? In English, "he" is used exclusively for humans and in some cases animals, but never for anything that isn't human or animal. However, "she" can be used for other concepts also, such as ships, countries, the sea etc, and therefore to recognize that God is something else than merely human or animal ("he"), and greater than mere objects ("it"), we must use "she". The Qur'an tells us that men and women are of equal value, so "he" and "she" do not automatically have any differentiation in their value. However, "he" is more constraining in the English language, and thus we should use the less constraining pronoun of all - "she".
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Peace "adley",
But I am wondering, do all references to God in the quran is "male" in nature? Or some of them "male" and some "female" in nature?
=adley=
JK- Some of them are male and others female. "ard(earth/land)" , "shams(sun)" and "naar(fore)" for example, are female words and would get the female pronoun "hiya". GOD Bless!
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Peace "claurantia",
Well, then could "she" be the correct term in English? In English, "he" is used exclusively for humans and in some cases animals, but never for anything that isn't human or animal. However, "she" can be used for other concepts also, such as ships, countries, the sea etc, and therefore to recognize that God is something else than merely human or animal ("he"), and greater than mere objects ("it"), we must use "she". The Qur'an tells us that men and women are of equal value, so "he" and "she" do not automatically have any differentiation in their value. However, "he" is more constraining in the English language, and thus we should use the less constraining pronoun of all - "she".
JK- This argument has been going on for years now. The only way to overcome this problem would be to create a TOTALLY NEW PRONOUN for GOD in English or do not use a pronoun at all and keep repeating the word GOD. GOD Bless!
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Salaam Jonny_K,
Peace "adley",
But I am wondering, do all references to God in the quran is "male" in nature? Or some of them "male" and some "female" in nature?
=adley=
JK- Some of them are male and others female. "ard(earth/land)" , "shams(sun)" and "naar(fore)" for example, are female words and would get the female pronoun "hiya". GOD Bless!
Thanks for the info about the words D
However, what about God in the quran? Are all occurences in the quran when talking about God using male pronouns or adjectives? Do "Allah", "Rabb", "Al Rahman", "Al Rahim", "Al Quddus", etc. are male words?=adley=
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Peace "adley",
However, what about God in the quran? Are all occurences in the quran when talking about God using male pronouns or adjectives? Do "Allah", "Rabb", "Al Rahman", "Al Rahim", "Al Quddus", etc. are male words?
=adley=
JK- Yes for all these names/adjectives male pronouns are used. That is the Arabic grammatical rule as all these attributes are grammatically masculine. GOD Bless!
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If you don't like "he" or "she" the other alternative is "they".
I already hear and see "they", "them", "themself" (note the singular) for use for an unspecified person where "he", "him", "himself" is unacceptable, and "one", "one", "oneself" is considered awkward.