Reimagining the Divine: Gender and the Concept of God in Islam

When people speak about God in various religions, the deity is typically referred to using the masculine pronoun "He."

In Islam, Allah is not depicted as male or female — Allah has no gender. Yet Allah has traditionally been referred to, and imagined by many, as a man.

Some Muslim women have begun to refer to Allah with feminine or gender neutral pronouns.

NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with Hafsa Lodi, who wrote about this movement in the religion magazine The Revealer, about what's driving this.

In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what's going on in your community.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy