GOD’S GENDER IN RELIGIONS PERSPECTIVE IN INDONESIA

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I. INTRODUCTION
Talking about God is quite a dangerous undertaking and the sensitivity is higher. It can be said that talking about God can drain the human mind, and this has been done by philosophers and theologians since time immemorial. This is because the understanding of God possessed by humans is very limited, and God is positioned in an unlimited context. On the one hand, the questions that arise regarding God cannot reach the human mind, but efforts to explain God have always been a concern, especially in the realm of divine philosophy. Religious people seem to have a strong tendency to reject rational thought about God, or at least consider it useless. Religious people already believed in his faith, so there would be a God, and that faith was somehow beyond the capacity of human reasoning. Moreover, human reasoning tends to be critical and unsympathetic to religious beliefs. So why think about God? If we believe in God, we believe in the existence of God, and if we are sure, why think about it, let alone philosophically. An attitude that rejects rational thought about God is called Fideism. Fideism states that reason cannot reach God (Suseno, 2006). Furthermore, a philosopher named Soren Kierkegaard explained that the concept of God is indeed very difficult to define, and a definition of God is almost impossible to formulate. Why is that? Because God is the unknown. In Kierkegaard's view, the unknown is the only name we can give God. God always transcends human reason. Therefore, God has never been known or understood by human reason. In other words, humans don't know much about God. Therefore, human efforts to find a definition or concept of God itself is a wrong and futile step (Tjahjadi et al., 2008). Human thirst to explain about God continues to emerge, even since the beginning of human civilization until now. Philosophers and theologians have a myriad of arguments to explain the nature of God exists, and vice versa. However, the search from this paper is not in the area where there is no belief in God, but in the area where God does exist. This study focuses on the search for the nature of God in Indonesian religions. Religions that have been inaugurated in Indonesia include Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity (Catholic and Protestant), and Confucianism. The focus of this study also seeks to examine several questions about the oneness of God, including the gender of God. An interesting question in this study is if everything in the universe comes from God, it means that gender comes from God. And if all genders come from God, then what is God's gender? Is it masculine or feminine or does not have gender (genderless). As explained by (Halidin, 2017) that in general the masculine label is attached to men who are seen as stronger, more active and characterized by a great need for achieving dominance, autonomy for aggression. On the other hand, feminine labels are attached to women who are seen as weak, less active and more concerned with the desire to nurture and give in. These questions about God's gender are quite interesting to be studied in more depth. Can God's gender be explained as human gender?, Does God take on a certain gender role in His existence?, or God's gender cannot be explained, because God cannot be described, and whatever we talk about God, it's not God? Or are there other answers that are the principles of Indonesian religions. Karen Armstrong in her book History of God (Armstrong, 2021) explains that God has already been specifically identified as a "male" type, and in English monotheists usually refer to Him with the pronoun "he". Of course today's era is a separate objection for feminists. And this use of masculine pronouns for God creates problems in some gendered languages. Thus, it is important to explore more deeply related to God's gender in religions to answer the question of whether God has masculine and feminine gender, or God's gender is only a description and construction of human understanding to know God and is only grammatical or linguistic, or God's gender cannot be explained at all.

II. METHOD
The method used in this research is a philosophical hermeneutic method. This research focuses on in-depth analysis related to relevant sources to be used as reference material for this study, such as articles in scientific journals, books, as well as written works in the form of theses and theses. From the sources that the researchers collected, they then obtained their respective views regarding the gender of God in religions in Indonesia, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity (Protestant, Catholic) and Confucianism to be understood as pure as possible. These data are then verified, completed, detailed, and given specialization in the discussion (Bakker & Zubair, 1990). Furthermore, the researcher then conducted an in-depth and philosophical analysis and finally provided conclusions related to the data that had been analyzed.

Gender of God in Hinduism
Understanding the concept of divinity in Hinduism does seem a bit complicated, if we look at it from the point of view of other religions. Basically Hinduism is a religion that worships one God (One), as other religions believe. And it has been written in the sacred Vedic texts which state Eko Narayanad na Dvityo'sti Kascit (there is only one God, there is no second), then there is also the statement of Ekam Sat Viprah Bahuda Vadanti (there is only one God, but the wise man who call it by many names) (Donder, 2015).
As explained by (Surpi, 2020) relating to the Hindu concept of divinity in general, it is indeed based on a theological or philosophical approach simultaneously without debating one with the other. Hindus can study and believe in divinity through theology or philosophy, in accordance with the typology that strengthens their beliefs. Thus, in Hinduism there are the theological concepts which are Nirguna Brahman (God who has no form, cannot be thought of, cannot be imagined as anything), and the theology of Saguna Brahman (the concept of a tangible God) (Hariyanto & Wantari, 2021). God who is Nirguna Brahman or is transcendent is the concept of God which has no form at all, cannot be reached by the human mind (acintyarupam) or "Tan Kagrahita Dening Manah Mwang Indria" (unreachable by the human mind). And the divine concept of Saguna Brahman is immanent (tangible) God, and this concept is often found in Puranic texts (Giri & Wiratmaja, 2020).
The basic difference regarding the theology of Nirguna Brahman and Saguna Brahman is the level of human knowledge in understanding God himself. The concept of Nirguna Brahman is a divine concept that is difficult to reach by humans with these limited senses. The concept of an intangible, transcendent God can only be reached by people who have Para Vidya knowledge, namely knowledge with a high level of consciousness, by removing the virtual veil or known as Panca Maya Kosa (five layers that envelop God's consciousness). While the theology of Saguna Brahman is a divine concept that is easiest for humans to understand. In (Donder, 2015) explains that the theology of Saguna Brahman is methodological, because with an immanent God it will be easier for humans to understand the concept of God and experience enlightenment and arrive at transcendent knowledge and can experience a relationship with God. And it should be emphasized here that the theological concept of Saguna Brahman does not mean that Hinduism believes in and worships many Gods because there are many representations of God in the form of gods, some people think that Hinduism worships many Gods, whereas in principle Hinduism worships one God, while the gods is a manifestation of God himself (Nata & Gunawijaya, 2021).
Related to gender in the concept of divinity in Hinduism, by referring to two concepts of Hindu theology, namely Nirguna Brahman and Saguna Brahman. It can be noted, in Nirguna Brahman (transcendent) it is very clear that God's gender does not indicate that he is male or female (genderless). This is based on the belief that God has no form (Nirupam), has no feet (nirpadam), has no senses (nirindriyam), has no hands (nirkaram), cannot be thought or imagined (acintya), neither this nor that (neti-neti), being everywhere and permeating all places (wyapi wyapaka), unchanging and eternal (nirwikaram). With this understanding, God is not a person who has a certain gender, but God in this understanding is the most unseen (Parama Suksma).
Furthermore, when viewed from the theological concept of Saguna Brahman (immanent), as a tangible concept of God, it appears that God in his manifestations is both masculine and feminine. In Hinduism, they are known as Gods and Goddesses, and the concepts of Ardhanaresvari, Purusha (psychological/ masculine aspects) and Pradhana (material/ feminine aspects) emerge, as well as the concepts of Cetana and Acetana. Even when referring the theology of Saguna Brahman to Hinduism, especially in Bali, it is mentioned that Akasa (sky) is the Bapa and Prtiwi (earth) is the mother with the term "Bapa Akasa Ibu Prtiwi". The statement between heaven and earth is also reflected in the dialogue between Yudistira and the King of the Yaksas (the Dharma God), who asks what is the highest of the heavens, and what is the heaviest of the earth. At that time Yudistira replied that the highest from the sky was the father, and the heaviest from the earth was the mother.
Masculine and Feminine in the theological concept of Saguna Brahman will be more clearly understood in Subhacitam as follows: "Tvameva Mātā ca Pitā Tvameva, Tvameva Bhandusca Sakhā Tvameva, Tvameva Vidyā Dravina Tvameva, Tvameva Sarva Mama Deva-Deva". It means, "Dear God, you are mother and father, you are family and friends, you are true knowledge, you are everything that exists" (Siswadi & Puspadewi, 2020). In this concept, it can be explained that Hinduism at the most basic level of knowledge actually considers God as mother and father, it is based on the fact that humans are children of God, in the sense of character as children, if they always beg, asking is the child's character to their parents. Then after increasing his understanding of God, then God as friends and family, after increasing again, God is positioned as true knowledge. And lastly, God is everything in this universe or Sarvam Khalv Idam Brahman (everything is Brahman/God).
The concept of Tri Murti with Sakti also reflects the manifestation of God as masculine and feminine, namely Lord Brahma with His Sakti Dewi Saraswati, Lord Vishnu with His Sakti Dewi Sri and Dewi Laksmi, and Lord Shiva with His Sakti Dewi Uma and Dewi Parwati. Thus, it can be concluded that the gender of God in Hinduism, when referring to the theological concept of Nirguna Brahman, means that God does not have a male or female gender (genderless), and if in the context of the theology of Saguna Brahman, it appears with the concept of masculine and feminine. However, what needs to be understood here is that masculine and feminine in this context are understood as manifestations of God, not as many God figures.

Gender of God in Buddhism
Explaining related to the Buddhist concept of divinity is as difficult as the Hindu concept of divinity. In fact, there are many accusations that Buddhism is godless. The accusation is based on simply seeing that Buddhists never mention the name of their Lord. For Buddhism, talking about God is only a story about God, because the real God cannot be thought of, and reason alone cannot reach the infinite God (Aman, 2019).
In principle, Buddhism recognizes the concept of divinity is One. The Oneness of God in the Buddha is explained in the Sutta Pitaka, Udana VIII: 3 which states: "Know, monks, that there is something that is not born, that is not incarnated, that is not created, that is absolute. O Bhikkhus, if there is nothing that is not born, who does not become, that is not created, that is absolute, then it is impossible for us to be free from birth, existence, formation, arising from past causes. But monks, because there is the unborn, the unincarnate, the uncreated, the absolute, it is possible to be free from birth, existence, formation, arising from past causes".
The explanation of the Supreme Godhead in the Buddha, as explained by (Wowor, 2002) that the God in the Buddha is "Atthi Ajatang Abhutang Akatang Asamkhatang", that is, God is "something that is not born, not incarnated, not created, and absolute". Furthermore, the Supreme Godhead is that which is without me (anatta), which cannot be personified and which cannot be described in any form. But with the existence of the absolute, the unconditioned (asamkhata) then the conditioned human being (samkhata) can attain liberation from the cycle of existence (samsara) by means of meditation.
There are two sects of Buddhism, namely the Mahayana school and the Hinayana sects. Mahayana sect means a big vehicle which means a belief that leads to eternal happiness. This sect developed in Tibet, China, and Japan. This Mahayana sect is already different from the lessons that were taught earlier. Now the concern is Buddha himself who is considered a god. In short, the Mahayana sect is more flexible depending on the environment, but does not abandon the main teachings of the Buddha. In contrast to the Hinayana sect which means a small vehicle. Hinayana considers that Buddha Gautama is superior to the gods. According to this sect, one has to live according to the instructions given by the Buddha to attain Nirvana. Everyone has to work on their own without expecting anyone's help from anyone. So in this Hinayana sect the emphasis is placed on one's own efforts to achieve Nirvana, and without expecting help from others (Aziz, 2010).
In short, if the human world is analogous to a beach, and every human being has a goal to go to the other side of the island (Nirvana) and use a boat to cross it. Mahayana sect (big boat) because in this crossing this flow helps everyone first, after everyone has been helped, then they together reach the other side and become Buddhas. However, in the Hinayana (small boat) sect, they put themselves before their goal (Nirvana) and become Buddhas, then after that they save humans (Hafidz, 2010).
In contrast to the Mahayana sect which believes in Dewi Kwan Im and carries out respect and worship of Dewi Kwan Im. This is in line with the term big boat in Mahayana and Dewi Kwan Im vow which states that Dewi Kwan Im will never become a Buddha before all humans become Buddhas, and Dewi Kwan Im will continue to help all sentient beings to escape suffering to achieve perfection (Hafidz, 2010). The figure of Dewi Kwan Im has a fairly strong role in the Mahayana Buddhist sect. Thus, his followers really love the figure of Dewi Kwan Im from all the qualities she has, and Mahayana Buddhists follow the teachings of Dewi Kwan Im.
With regard to gender in the Buddhist concept of divinity, if you look at it in general it can be concluded that Buddha has a divine concept that is neither masculine nor feminine (genderless). This is based on the sentence in the Sutta Pitaka, Udana VIII: 3 which explains that God as something that is not born, incarnated, uncreated and absolute, God cannot be personified or described in any form. In Buddhism it is explained that the ultimate goal of human life is to achieve Buddhahood (anuttara samyak sambodhi) or true enlightenment, which makes humans not to experience reincarnation. To achieve this, the help and assistance of other parties has no effect. There are no gods to help, only by one's own efforts Buddhahood can be attained. Even the Teravada school (Khairiah, 2018) describes Buddha not as a God, but as an example, guide, and teacher of beings who need to go their own way, attain spiritual enlightenment, and see the truth and the real reality.
However, in Buddhism, especially in Mahayana Buddhism, there are many bodhisattvas. Bodhisattvas in the Mahayana view are those who free people from dukkha or suffering. The Mahayana sect also pays homage and worship to Bhodisattvas. There are many Bodhisattvas in the Mahayana sect of masculine or feminine forms, such as Dewi Kwan Im/ Avalokitesvara, Akasagarbha, Ksitigarbha, Mahasthamaprapta, Padmasambhawa, Vasudhara, and so on. In the view of Mahayana (big boat) that crosses mankind to reach Nirvana. Like Dewi Kwan Im, who refused to become a Buddha before all became Buddhas.

Gender of God in Christianity
Christianity is a religion that states that Allah (God) is above the sky. Christianity is also one of the religions included in the group of the Samawi religions and the Abrahamic religion, which also includes Islam and Judaism. And Christianity is a Monotheistic Theism religion, that is, God exists, and is a transcendent reality and has an immanent purpose and purpose. In short, God is One, and believes that God exists in transcendent and immanent (Pardosi & Murtiningsih, 2019).
There are several terms of deity in Christianity. First, is the concept of "Trinity". The term Trinity is not in the Bible. The term Trinity emerged as an attempt by adherents (churches) to understand God in the Bible (Pardosi & Murtiningsih, 2019). Karen Armstrong says that the doctrine of the Trinity has often been misunderstood in the West. They tend to imagine the existence of three holy figures or completely ignore the doctrine and identify God and God the Father, and view Jesus as a divine companion no longer on an equal footing. In the concept of the Trinity, the Father transmits everything that is in himself to His Son, giving up everything or even the possibility of revealing himself in other words (Juwaini, 2021).
Second, it relates to the words Yahweh and Elohim. The word Yahweh is the name of the Creator of Heaven and Earth. Meanwhile, the word elohim (translated by Allah or God) is not the name of the Creator, but rather elohim is the title of those worshiped by humans, including the Creator himself. Regarding the oneness of God, there are several verses in the new testament which state that God is One, as in (Mark 12:29) "God is One", (John, 17:3) "God is the only true one". The word One described in the verse is not in a mathematical sense, namely the number one (quantity), but a principle or concept (quality).
Christianity calls God (Allah) with masculine names and titles. God's designations for Christians are 'Bapa', 'King', 'Master' and so on. In the Old Testament Bible there are traces of the Jewish tradition of religious language in referring to God, namely "the God of Abraham, Ishak, and Yakub", not "the God of Sarah, Ribka, and Rahel". In the New Testament too, it is not the slightest difference. The prayer taught by Jesus begins with the masculine name of God, "Our Bapa who is in Heaven", not "Our Mother who is in Heaven" (Siregar, 2015).
Furthermore, Johnson as quoted by (Siregar, 2015) explains that the issue of masculinity is not only thick in the name of God, but also in the second divine person of the Trinity, namely Jesus Christ. This divinehuman figure is very important to the Christian faith in view of His miraculous work, which is to save mankind from sin. However, the actions of Jesus Christ in the world are often associated with the gender He has chosen, namely men.
The concept of a masculine God was criticized by Solle in (Siregar, 2015), who said that it is synonymous with absolute power. According to him, humans will not find love in this divine model. Man's worship of Him is only fueled by the fear of punishment. In addition, the masculine God seems to have strengthened a repressive and violent patriarchal culture. He is not friendly with women, because these people sit in a lower strata than men. However, according to (Spencer, 2010) that God actually transcends gender, because God is a spirit that has no form, neither male nor female. Jesus in masculine form does not reflect the essence of God. Masculine language for God is grammatical and not natural as gender.

Gender of God in Islam
Islam believes in God as Allah, and Allah is believed to be the real and One Supreme Being. The All-Powerful and All-Knowing Creator, the Eternal, the Destiny Maker, and the judge of the universe. Etymologically Allah is derived from the word Ilah which means worship. The word Allah can also be derived from the word "alih" which means serenity, and the meaning of the word "alih" refers to the meaning of having to submit and glorify (Syafieh, 2016).
According to Ibnu Manzur in (Syafieh, 2016) the first word recorded in history in the expression of divinity is the word ilahah. This word is the name for the sun god worshiped by the Arabs. The word ilahah is then used to express the qualities of the sun. One of them is the word ulahah which means hot sun. It can be concluded that the word ilah and the word Allah originally came from the word wilah which means submission, exaltation, and an expression of servitude. Furthermore, the word wilah is derived from the word ilahah which is the name for the sun god. The name of the sun god then evolved into the word Allah.
Furthermore, according to Ahmad Husnan, the word ilah in the form of the word Allah has the meaning of surprising or amazing, because all of His actions/ creations are amazing or because if we discuss His essence, it will be surprising due to the creature's ignorance of the nature of the Supreme Being. Whatever comes to mind regarding the nature of Allah's substance, Allah is not like that. That's why a narration is found which states, "Think about Allah's creatures and don't think about His substance" (Syafieh, 2016).
Indeed, Allah has said about himself as in Surah Al-Ikhlas from verses 1-5 which states "Say (Muhammad), he is Allah, the One, Allah is the One who asks for all things, Allah is neither begetting nor begotten, and nothing is equivalent to it". In Surah Thaha verse 14 states "Truly I am Allah, there is no god but Me, so worship Me, and perform prayers to remember me". Furthermore, Ali Bin Abi Talib who was the first disciple of the Prophet Muhammad stated that: "God has no name, no body, no incarnation of anything, no form, no form, nothing like Him, not limited, not in position and not in place, not can be asked with the question how?, not tied to a place, not in one place, not full and not empty, does not stand, does not sit, neither stands still nor moves, is neither dark nor light, neither in the form of a spirit nor in also in the form of a soul, cannot be separated from a certain position, colorless, not ticked in the human heart and cannot be smelled through certain odors" (Pardosi & Murtiningsih, 2019).
Referring to this, it is clear that gender in the concept of divinity in Islam is not said to be male or female / does not have gender (genderless). God in this position is formless, has no particular form, that what is imagined about God, know that it is not God. However, in the linguistic aspect, Allah is described as (He/ His), and in Arabic grammar, the word Allah can be categorized as masculine majazi (unreal). As explained by (Ahmed, 2017) that in Arabic grammar there are only two genders, namely, male and female. There are two types of male gender: First, Haqeeqi Masculine (real), which is used to indicate masculine gender in humans, animals. Second, Masculine Majazi (unreal), which is used as masculine but in reality it is not. For example, Malak (angel), Layl (night), and the word Allah are included in the Masculine Majazi category.
Khaled Ahmed further explained that English has three genders, namely: male, female and neutral. So if we translate the Arabic word 'huwa' into English, it can be translated into 'he's a boy or 'that'. And the Arabic word 'hiya' can be translated as 'she's a girl' or 'that'. However, the word Allah is unique and cannot be called 'it' in English, because Allah has no gender, neither male nor female or neutral. Some might argue that the Arabic words 'huwa' and 'hiya' can both be used for 'that' or are gender neutral, so why did Allah use 'huwa' and not 'hiya'? In Arabic grammar there are certain rules and criteria for the feminine gender. First, if it is female, as the mother says (general), it becomes gendered feminine. God is not a woman. Second, if it ends with the third Arabic letter 'ta' like 'mirwahtun' (fan), it becomes feminine. The Arabic word Allah does not end in 'ta' so it cannot be feminine. Third, if the word ends with 'Alif Mamduda' (big Alif), it becomes feminine. But the Arabic word Allah does not end with Alif Mamduda so it cannot be feminine. And lastly, if objects occur in pairs, like body pairs, for example. 'Ainun' (eyes), 'yadun' (hands), they are considered feminine. But Allah says in the Qur'an in Surah Al-Ikhlas, chapter 112, verse 1 "Say: He is the One and Only God". So God is one and not a couple. Therefore, it cannot be used as 'hiya' she (a woman), Allah uses 'huwa' which is Him (a man) (Ahmed, 2017).

Gender of God in Confucianism
Confucianism believes in God as Tian (read, Ti'en) which means One Almighty, Supreme One. Wu Jing (Book of the Five) mentions several terms about God such as Huang Tian, Min Tian, Shang Di. Prophet Kongzi called it the term Tian. In principle, the concept of divinity in Confucianism as written in the book Zhong Yong Chapter XV, it is explained that the nature of God is Supreme Spirit, seen and not seen, heard and not heard, but every form is not without Him. In the Book of Changes (Yi Jing) it is stated that God is All-Existing, All-Perfect, Creator of the Universe, All-Positive, using the term Qian. In the Zhong Yong (Perfect Middle) Book mentions God by the term Gui Shen, which shows that the Supreme God is the Supreme Spirit who has power over all attributes of Yin and Yang, the Most Holy One, the One who is everywhere. Furthermore, in the Book of Li Ji (Book of Morals) the term Da Yi is used, which means the One Most Great, parallel to the term used in Yi Jing as Tai (Viviana, 2015). Furthermore, in (Nazwar, 2016) explains that Tian is a personal God who is at the top of the supernatural hierarchical leadership because Confucius believes that the heavenly throne is ruled by spirits, each of which is tiered, from the lowest to the highest level. In (Zarkasi, 2014) it is more straightforward to say that Confucius has always avoided talking about metaphysics, divinity, soul, and various miraculous things, but he does not doubt the existence of God Almighty.
In this regard, gender in the concept of divinity in the Confucian religion, when referring to the statements that have been written in the scriptures, it can be noticed that God does not have a specific gender. Because the concept of a transcendent God is described as formless, invisible. But on the other hand, Confucianism also believes in Tian as a personal God who occupies the highest throne in the sky, he is also said to be the highest god as a masculine figure. In addition, Confucianism also believes that the power of the universe is controlled by Yin and Yang. Yin as feminine (female) and Yang as masculine (male). However, apart from that, Confucianism is still categorized as a monotheistic religion, because it believes in one supreme spirit power, namely Tian or Shang Ti.

IV. CONCLUSION
Based on the explanation above, it can be concluded that all religions that have been legalized in Indonesia (Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity (Protestant, Catholic), Islam, and Confucianism believe in the concept of a transcendent and monotheistic God (believe in the existence of one God or called One). Gender in God, Hinduism believes in God in two dimensions, this is based on the level of one's understanding of God, namely the theology of Nirguna Brahman (God is unthinkable and genderless), on the theology of Saguna Brahman (God is embodied in feminine and masculine). However, in the Mahayana sect, they believe in Bhodisattvas in the form of gods and goddesses. In Christianity, they believe in God as masculine as Allah, Elohim and the concept of the Trinity (God the Bapa, God the Son and the Holy Spirit). Islam believes in God as genderless, but grammatically categorized as masculine, but not like gender in humans or animals. Confucius believes in God the transcendent, in his holy book clearly says God has no form as anything. However, Confucianism believes that there is a supreme god and believes in the concepts of Yin (feminine power) and Yang (masculine power).