Why Are God’s Names Referred to with Masculine Pronouns?

To answer this question, several points need to be made.

Pronouns are instruments for remembering God, and there are countless different means of remembering Him.

Letters, and the pronouns formed from them, are also creations of God. Every created thing is simply a means of turning our attention to God and remembering Him.

God’s signs point to Him, and all His signs are likewise means of remembering Him.

The Divine Names, too, are signs that direct our attention towards God; through them, we call upon Him.

All of God’s creations, of every kind and category, are His signs and words; through them, we turn towards the Exalted Lord.

Both beings that have gender and those that do not are God’s creations. Through His creations, we turn towards the Creator. That is, God is remembered through every kind of being, whether gendered or not.

When we remember God in our hearts, we use no pronoun. Likewise, when we call upon Him through our state of being, we use no pronoun. When we remember Him by seeing His signs, this remembrance is also a kind of calling, yet it involves no pronoun. The same is true of each of our outward and inward senses.

When a person turns towards God, they call upon Him with their very soul and being, regardless of their gender. Likewise, when we see beings of different kinds and genders, we remember the Creator of those beings—and again, no pronoun is used. For these beings themselves are means of remembering God.

It is not the case that letters and words used for the masculine and feminine were devised for this purpose. Letters, words and pronouns existed before these kinds of beings, and were later used in reference to them.

Let us remember that pronouns are made up of letters whose sole purpose is to call attention and direct awareness.

... وَ هُوَ اسْمٌ مَكْنِيٌّ مُشَارٌ إِلَى غَائِبٍ فَالْهَاءُ تَنْبِيهٌ عَلَى مَعْنًى ثَابِتٍ وَ الْوَاوُ إِشَارَةٌ إِلَى الْغَائِبِ عَنِ الْحَوَاسِّ كَمَا أَنَّ قَوْلَكَ هَذَا إِشَارَةٌ إِلَى الشَّاهِدِ عِنْدَ الْحَوَاسِّ ...
*Al-Tawḥīd* (al-Ṣadūq), p. 88

... “هو” — meaning “He” — is a name that alludes to and points towards one who is absent from view (by way of allusion, it points to Him, the Reality beyond the reach of the senses). Thus the “هاء” draws attention to an established meaning, and the “واو” points towards what is absent from the senses ...

That is, “هو”, which is used when turning towards the Lord, is not a pronoun but a name; its use in reference to the Lord has no connection to any gender, even though it is used as a pronoun and also for the masculine. In using any name, attribute or pronoun, we must never forget this principle: “He has no likeness—لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ”; and He is far above being encompassed by description: “الله أكبر”.

A subtle point: The prevailing view is that Adam, at the beginning—before the name “Adam” was applied to him—had no gender. The feminine was created from his soul. After this separation, he was called male and the part separated from him female. Before this division, the unformed Adam was without, and free from, any gender. Yet the same pronoun was used for this genderless Adam as is used after the division. Thus, masculine pronouns are originally ungendered and free from gender; their first use was therefore for beings without gender.

الروم : 21 وَ مِنْ آياتِهِ أَنْ خَلَقَ لَكُمْ مِنْ أَنْفُسِكُمْ أَزْواجاً لِتَسْكُنُوا إِلَيْها وَ جَعَلَ بَيْنَكُمْ مَوَدَّةً وَ رَحْمَةً إِنَّ في‏ ذلِكَ لَآياتٍ لِقَوْمٍ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ
And among His signs is that He created for you, from among yourselves, spouses, that you might find tranquillity in them; and He placed affection and mercy between you. Surely in this are signs for a people who reflect.

النساء : 1 يا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اتَّقُوا رَبَّكُمُ الَّذي خَلَقَكُمْ مِنْ نَفْسٍ واحِدَةٍ وَ خَلَقَ مِنْها زَوْجَها وَ بَثَّ مِنْهُما رِجالاً كَثيراً وَ نِساءً وَ اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ الَّذي تَسائَلُونَ بِهِ وَ الْأَرْحامَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ كانَ عَلَيْكُمْ رَقيباً
O people, be mindful of your Lord, who created you all from a single soul, and from it created its mate, and from the two spread many men and women. Be mindful of God, in whose name you appeal to one another, and of the ties of kinship. Surely God is ever watchful over you.

The pronoun “کم” includes both men and women. The “نفس واحده”, for which a feminine pronoun is used, is without any gender, since “men and women with gender” were created from that genderless soul.

So, God is certainly far above having kind or gender: He is the One who creates kinds and genders.

When the Exalted God ascribes something to Himself, there is wisdom in doing so. For example, when He ascribes the spirit to Himself, it is because of the spirit’s special nobility.

الحجر : 29 فَإِذا سَوَّيْتُهُ وَ نَفَخْتُ فيهِ مِنْ رُوحي‏ فَقَعُوا لَهُ ساجِدينَ
“So when I have fashioned him and breathed into him of My spirit, fall down in prostration before him.”

In conclusion, the pronouns we call masculine pronouns are in reality names that originally serve to draw attention.