Quran and the masculine form of address

Q: Why is the masculine form of address used in the Qur’an?

First it should be stated that the Qur’an addresses not only men, but all of humanity. There are more than thirty different forms of address in the Qur’an; it addresses the Prophet as “O Prophet,” the believers as “O believers,” the unbelievers as “O unbelievers,” the wives of the Prophet as “O wives of the Prophet” and humanity as “O human beings,” “O children of Adam,” or “O My servants.” Such forms of address as “O humankind,” “O My servants,” “O believers” or “O unbelievers” are not peculiar to men, but for everybody, man and woman alike. Arabic, like French and Spanish, is based on grammatical gender; even inanimate objects are masculine or feminine. Words like amanu or kafaru in these forms of address in the Qur’an are masculine forms of the words, but they do not refer only to the males but to both masculine and feminine genders, as in other languages.

Akgul, Muhittin (2009). The Quran in 99 Questions (Abdullah Erdemli Trans.). New Jersey: Tughra Books. (Originally published in Turkish as Kur’an İklimine Seyahat)