In the Qur’an, Allah refers to Himself as “He”, and a reader may ask why: does the word mean that Allah is male, or like a man? This page gathers what the scholars set out in the books: that Allah refers to Himself this way in revelation, that Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen explains the pronoun itself in his explanation of Aqidah al-Wasitiyyah, that nothing is like Him so the pronoun carries no likeness to the creation, and that He is spoken of only as He spoke of Himself. It then takes up the related question of why Allah also refers to Himself as “We”.
Allah Refers to Himself as “He”
The first thing to see is that this is how Allah speaks of Himself in His Book. In Surah al-Ikhlas, the short chapter that sums up who He is, He says, in the printing of Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen’s Explanation of Aqidah al-Wasitiyyah:
«Say: “He is Allah, One”»
The Shaykh comments on the pronoun itself. Huwa [the Arabic word for “he”] is the word the verse opens with, and he explains what it points to:
“Concerning his saying: «Say: ‘He is Allah, One’» Huwa is a pronoun. What does it refer to? It is said that it refers to the one who is asked about. As if he is saying: ‘The one whom you are asking about is Allah.’”
So the pronoun answers the question people were asking: who is your Lord? The One you are asking about is Allah. The verse goes on in the same comment to give “Allah” and then “One” as what is said about Him, and the meaning of the name Allah itself is set out on Who is Allah. The point for this page is simpler: the word “He” stands in the verse because Allah put it there, speaking of Himself.
The Pronoun Does Not Make Him Like His Creation
Does calling Allah “He” liken Him to a man? The Qur’an closes that door in one verse, quoted here in Shaykh Abdur-Rahman ibn Nasir as-Sa’di’s printing in his tafsir:
“There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearing, All-Seeing.”
As-Sa’di explains the first half of the verse, the half this page needs:
“that is, nothing of His creation resembles Him and nothing can match Him, whether in His essence, His names, His attributes or His deeds, because all of His names are beautiful, all His attributes are attributes of perfection and might, and by means of His deeds He brought into being mighty creations, with no partner. So there is nothing like unto Him, because He is unique and He alone is perfect in all aspects.”
Nothing of the creation resembles Him in His essence, His names, His attributes or His deeds. Being male or female belongs to the creation; it is part of how created beings are. Since nothing of the creation resembles Him at all, the word “He” does not place Him among men, any more than it places Him among anything created. The verse still calls Him “He” in its second half, and affirms that He hears and sees, while its first half removes every likeness. The principles the scholars lay down about the names and attributes as a whole, and how likeness is avoided, are set out on Names and Attributes of Allah (Asma wa Sifat); this page takes from that ground only what the pronoun question needs.
He Is Spoken of Only as He Spoke of Himself
There is a rule behind all of this, which Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen states in Al-Qawa’id al-Muthla: Allah’s names and attributes are tawqifiyyah [known only through revelation]. We stay with what stands in the Qur’an and the Sunnah, adding nothing and taking nothing away, because the intellect cannot reach what Allah deserves of description on its own. The rule is quoted and worked out on Names and Attributes of Allah (Asma wa Sifat). Its consequence here is direct: since Allah refers to Himself as “He” in His Book, we refer to Him as “He”, and we do not swap His words for words of our own choosing.
The same book prints the verse that warns against going beyond this, Surah al-A’raf (7:33), in full:
«Say: Verily, my Lord has prohibited (all forms of) lewdness, whether committed openly or in secret, sinning (in general), oppressing without any due right, that you associate partners with Allah with no authority sent down from Him, and that you speak about Allah with what you do not know.»
Speaking about Allah without knowledge is listed in that verse after associating partners with Him. Moosaa Richardson’s explanation in the same book draws the lesson for names: to give Allah a name He did not give Himself, or to deny a name He gave Himself, is a serious matter against Him, and the safe path is to stick to what the texts establish. How Allah is referred to stands on the same footing as how He is named: it comes from Him, not from us.
Why Allah Also Says “We”
A second question follows the first. If Allah is One, why does He sometimes say “We” and “Us” of Himself? Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen answers it in his explanation of Ibn Taymiyyah’s Tadmuriyyah, and his statement also settles what the singular forms mean:
“However, Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) may sometimes use the singular form to refer to Himself to indicate Tawheed, and sometimes the plural form ‘We’ to indicate His Majesty. Perhaps the plural form is indicative of the meanings of His names.”
Tawheed [Allah’s oneness, that He alone is God] is what the singular points to: He is One. The plural points to His majesty: the One speaking is tremendous, with many noble attributes and the meanings of His names gathered in Him. Neither form points to a number of gods.
Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan makes the same point on a verse where Allah says He sent a messenger to this nation, and sent one to Pharaoh before them (Surah al-Muzzammil 73:15 to 16), in his Explanation of the Three Fundamental Principles:
“His statement, ‘Verily, We’: The pronoun refers to Allah. And this is the pronoun which is utilized to denote the grandeur of Himself, because He is tremendous. He said, ‘We have sent’: Similarly, the pronoun is used to denote grandeur. And the meaning of ‘We have sent’ is ‘We have inspired and revealed to.’”
Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen makes the same remark in his Explanation of Aqidah al-Wasitiyyah, in the discussions of Allah’s Hand and His Eyes: a real plural, a count of three or more, is not intended by these forms. What is intended is majesty and exaltation, whereas He is One.
So when Allah says of the Qur’an, in as-Sa’di’s printing:
“Verily it is We Who have sent down the Reminder [the Qur’an], and verily it is We Who will preserve it.”
The “We” is the pronoun of grandeur. Allah alone sent the Reminder down, and Allah alone preserves it; the plural form clothes that in the majesty that belongs to Him.
Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen, in the same Tadmuriyyah explanation, shows how verses like these are to be read. Some verses are Mutashaabih [not fully clear on their own] and some are Muhkam [clear and decisive]. People who followed the unclear ones by themselves claimed a plurality of gods from the plural pronouns, and left the clear verse that settles His oneness. Those firmly grounded in knowledge read the unclear through the clear:
“As for those who are firmly grounded in knowledge: They deduce that plurality is indicative of His Greatness, due to Allah’s many Noble Attributes. They understand this Mutashaabih verse through another Muhkam verse, where Allah says: ‘And your Ilah (God) is One Ilah (God - Allah), La ilaha illa Huwa (there is none who has the right to be worshipped but He).’”
That clear verse is Surah al-Baqarah (2:163), quoted here in as-Sa’di’s printing:
“And your God is One God: There is no god but He, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful”
One more use of the plural is explained by Moosaa Richardson in Al-Qawa’id al-Muthla. In some verses, an action carried out by the angels at Allah’s command is attributed to Allah Himself with the word “We”: the recitation of the Qur’an to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, for example, was Jibril’s recitation, done by Allah’s order, and Allah attributes it to His own Self. The angels are His deployed workers and messengers; the action is theirs in the doing and His in the commanding, so the pronoun does not make the angels into partners with Him.
In short: Allah refers to Himself as “He” because that is how He speaks of Himself in revelation, and the scholars who explain the pronoun point it back to the One who was asked about. The word carries no likeness, because nothing is like Him in His essence, names, attributes or deeds. And we keep His words as they came, saying of Him what He said of Himself, because He is described only from what He revealed. When He says “We”, the plural is the plural of majesty and grandeur, and the clear verses settle that He is One God, with no partner and nothing like Him. That is the answer the books give, and it is enough: the pronouns are followed as they came, and the One they point to is beyond every likeness.
References
Explanation of Aqidah al-Wasitiyyah, Vol. 1: Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen (printed p. 210).
Tafsir as-Sa’di, Vol. 9 (Juz 25-27): Shaykh Abdur-Rahman ibn Nasir as-Sa’di; IIPH, English Edition 1, 2018, translated by Nasiruddin al-Khattab (printed p. 34).
Tafsir as-Sa’di, Vol. 1 (Juz 1-3): Shaykh Abdur-Rahman ibn Nasir as-Sa’di; IIPH, English Edition 1, 2018, translated by Nasiruddin al-Khattab (printed p. 192).
Tafsir as-Sa’di, Vol. 5 (Juz 13-15): Shaykh Abdur-Rahman ibn Nasir as-Sa’di; IIPH, English Edition 1, 2018, translated by Nasiruddin al-Khattab (printed p. 151).
Al-Qawa’id al-Muthla (The Exemplary Principles Concerning the Beautiful Names and Attributes of Allah): Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen; TROID, translated and explained by Moosaa Richardson, 1431 AH (printed pp. 38-39, 151-152).
Towards Understanding of Tadmuriyyah (Taqrib at-Tadmuriyyah): Ibn Taymiyyah’s text, explained by Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen; Al-Naseehah Publications, 1st Edition, 2018, translated by Dr. Jahirul Haque (printed pp. 111-112, 138-139).
Explanation of the Three Fundamental Principles: Shaykh Salih ibn Fawzan al-Fawzan; Authentic Statements, translated by Raha Batts (printed p. 54).
Further Reading
- Names and Attributes of Allah (Asma wa Sifat): the principles that govern how the names and attributes are affirmed.
- The 99 Names of Allah (Asma’ al-Husna): the ninety-nine names gathered from the Qur’an and the Sunnah.
- Who is Allah: who Allah is, in His lordship, worship, and names.
- Belief in Allah: belief in Allah and its four matters, in summary.
Verified on 2026-10-25 against the books listed above.