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Why do God refer to Himself as “We” and “Us” sometimes?

Why do God refer to Himself as “We” and “Us” sometimes?

Question:

Salam Aleikum, Why does God in the Qu’ran sometimes refer to himself as “we” “Us” instead of “I”? Thank you

Wa alykum as-salaam,

Within The Qur’an, God is communicating with man, therefore, God must utilize the understanding of the human mind. We must establish this rule in our mind, before we can proceed further.

The reason why The Qur’an uses “We” etc, is not to denote that God in anything but The Singular Entity, The Almighty God, rather, the use of “We” is the royal form that is used in the Arabic language to dignify the subject, which, in this case, is God.

Let me put it to you this way, you know with the Queen of England, they refer to her as “Your Highness.” That sounds odd, right? The use of “We” is simply the royal form in the Arabic language.

Now, to be clear, in The Qur’an, God does use the pronoun “I” and the variation of the pronoun used is generally thought to denote difference in proximity, intensity, and importance as God utilizes different language in different situations.

I just want to affirm, in the strongest possible terms, that the conception of God in The Qur’an is overwhelmingly singular in nature, thus the use of different pronouns is a product of the norms of the Arabic literary tradition, than a single of different theological constructs.

I hope this answered your question, insha Allah.

I pray this reaches you and your families in the best of health and Iman, insha Allah.

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