← Mind & Soul

Self-Esteem & Body Image

Low self-esteem & body image

When the harshest voice about who you are is your own.

4 min read

Low self-esteem is a thing that we see but we struggle inside with it — the thing is it that doesn't always look like something that we should be concerned, but it may feel like we're turning down an opportunity, assuming the worst version of yourself is the true one, apologising for taking up space. Body image struggles often move alongside it: a mirror that only shows what's wrong, a comparison that never lets up, especially in a world of edited, curated images designed to make ordinary look inadequate. You were not created as an accident or an afterthought. "We have certainly created man in the best of stature" is said about the human being as such — not about a body that meets a filtered standard. Worth, in this deen, was never meant to be measured by a mirror.

From the Quran

لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنسَانَ فِي أَحْسَنِ تَقْوِيمٍ

We have certainly created man in the best of stature.

95:4

A dua for this

اللَّهُمَّ كَمَا حَسَّنْتَ خَلْقِي فَحَسِّنْ خُلُقِي

Allahumma kama hassanta khalqi fahassin khuluqi

O Allah, just as You have made my outward form good, make my character good as well.

Musnad Ahmad 25287

What does this bring up for you today?

If you need more support

If low self-esteem is persistent and affecting your daily life, NHS talking therapies (CBT) can help, and if you're 18 or over you can self-refer directly. A GP is also a good starting point, especially if low mood or anxiety is sitting alongside it.

The Prophet ﷺ said: “Make use of medical treatment, for Allah has not made a disease without appointing a remedy for it.” (Abu Dawud)

NHS — Raise low self-esteem

More in Mind & Soul