How to Love Yourself the Islamic Way?
1. Begin With Knowing Who You Are in the Sight of Allah
You cannot love yourself correctly until you know how Allah sees you. Allah did not create you randomly or carelessly. He honored you with purpose.
وَلَقَدْ كَرَّمْنَا بَنِي آدَمَ
“We have certainly honored the children of Adam.” [Qur’an 17:70]
Islamic self-love begins by internalizing that you are already honored by Allah before you prove anything to the world.
2. Separate Self-Love From Ego
Islam does not teach you to inflate yourself. It teaches you to value yourself without worshipping yourself. The Prophet ﷺ said:
مَا تَوَاضَعَ أَحَدٌ لِلَّهِ إِلاَّ رَفَعَهُ اللَّهُ
“Whoever humbles himself for Allah, Allah raises him.” [Sahih Muslim 2588]
True self-love is not arrogance. It is knowing your value comes from Allah, not from superiority over others.
3. Love Yourself Through Mercy, Not Harshness
Many people punish themselves for their past. Islam does not allow this form of self-cruelty. Allah commands:
قُلْ يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِن رَّحْمَةِ اللَّهِ
“O My servants who have wronged themselves, do not despair of Allah’s mercy.” [Qur’an 39:53]
If Allah shows you mercy even after sin, self-love means you stop attacking yourself and start returning with hope.
4. Understand That Your Worth Is Not in Perfection
Islam does not love you for being flawless. It loves you for repenting when you fall. The Prophet ﷺ said:
كُلُّ ابْنِ آدَمَ خَطَّاءٌ، وَخَيْرُ الْخَطَّائِينَ التَّوَّابُونَ
“Every child of Adam sins, and the best of those who sin are those who repent.” [Sunan Ibn Mājah 4251 | Hasan]
Self-love is not pretending you never fail. It is trusting that you can always rise again with Allah.
5. Love Yourself by Protecting Your Heart From Sin
Islamic self-love does not mean saying yes to every desire. It means guarding your soul from what destroys it.
Every boundary you set for Allah is a form of self-respect, not restriction.
6. Love Yourself by Fulfilling the Rights of Your Body
Your body is not a tool to exploit or punish. It is an amānah. The Prophet ﷺ said:
إِنَّ لِجَسَدِكَ عَلَيْكَ حَقًّا
“Your body has a right over you.” [Sahih al-Bukhari 5199]
Eating properly, resting, seeking treatment, and protecting yourself from harm are all acts of Islamic self-love.
7. Love Yourself by Guarding Your Dignity (Ḥayāʼ)
Self-love in Islam is inseparable from modesty. The Prophet ﷺ said:
الحياء شعبة من الإيمان
“Modesty is a branch of faith.” [Sahih al-Bukhari 9 | Sahih Muslim 35]
When you protect your dignity in speech, behavior, dress, and online presence, you are honoring yourself the way Allah honors you.
8. Love Yourself by Choosing Allah Over Validation
Worldly self-love is built on likes, attention, and applause. Islamic self-love is built on Allah’s approval. The Prophet ﷺ said:
مَنْ الْتَمَسَ رِضَا اللَّهِ بِسَخَطِ النَّاسِ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ وَأَرْضَى عَنْهُ النَّاسَ
“Whoever seeks Allah’s pleasure at the cost of people’s displeasure, Allah will be pleased with him and make the people pleased with him.” [Sunan Ibn Ḥibbān 276 | Ṣaḥīḥ]
Needing less validation from people is one of the deepest forms of self-love.
9. Love Yourself by Anchoring Your Worth in Īmān, Not Image
Allah does not measure you by your face, body, or wealth. The Prophet ﷺ said:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ لاَ يَنْظُرُ إِلَى أَجْسَادِكُمْ وَلاَ إِلَى صُوَرِكُمْ وَلَكِنْ يَنْظُرُ إِلَى قُلُوبِكُمْ
“Verily Allah does not look to your bodies nor to your faces but He looks to your hearts.” [Sahih Muslim 2564]
Self-love grows when your mirror becomes the Qur’an, not the crowd.
10. Love Yourself by Forgiving Yourself After Tawbah
Many people repent to Allah but never forgive themselves. Islam does not teach lifelong self-punishment.
If Allah erases the sin, holding onto guilt becomes a form of distrust in His mercy.
11. Love Yourself by Speaking Kindly to Your Soul
Constant self-insult, comparison, and despair weaken īmān.
Islamic self-love includes how you talk to yourself in the dark moments when no one hears.
12. Love Yourself by Accepting the Qadr of Your Body and Life
Your shape, struggles, family, and trials were not chosen randomly. Allah created you with divine wisdom.
لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنسَانَ فِي أَحْسَنِ تَقْوِيمٍ
“We have certainly created man in the best form.” [Qur’an 95:4]
Peace with your decree is one of the deepest forms of self-love.
13. Love Yourself by Building Your Hereafter, Not Just Your Image
The believer will meet Allah with nothing but the heart they carried. Allah says:
يَوْمَ لَا يَنفَعُ مَالٌ وَلَا بَنُونَ إِلَّا مَنْ أَتَى اللَّهَ بِقَلْبٍ سَلِيمٍ
“The Day when neither wealth nor children will benefit, except one who comes to Allah with a sound heart.” [Qur’an 26:88–89]
Islamic self-love prepares you for that day, not just this world.
14. Love Yourself by Staying Connected to Allah Daily
The one who stays close to Allah never fully loses themselves. Allah says:
أَلَا بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوبُ
“Indeed, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find peace.” [Qur’an 13:28]
Self-love without remembrance becomes fragile. Self-love with Allah becomes unshakeable.
Loving yourself the Islamic way is not about putting yourself above others and it is not about breaking yourself down either.
It is about standing in the middle with dignity, repentance, humility, mercy, boundaries, and purpose.
You love yourself the Islamic way when you treat your soul
as something precious enough to protect, pure enough to renew, and valuable enough to return to Allah with every time it falls.
