Finding peace with my looks through Islam
Assalamu alaikum everyone, I'm a young Muslimah, and for as long as I can remember, I've been called ugly by so many people. Even my own mother has hinted at it (sorry if I'm not saying this right, English isn't my first language). I have a really small face, acne, and protruding teeth-I got braces to fix that but it'll take time. My eyebrows are sparse, and honestly, there's nothing I like about how I look, and I guess the world agrees. For the longest time, I was super depressed and insecure about my appearance. The start of 2026 was absolute hell for me. I couldn't even look in the mirror without wanting to rip my skin off. I'd cry to my mom every single day and even skip school just to avoid being seen by people. Astaghfirullah, I even had thoughts of ending my life if I had to look like this forever. It was so hard to just exist without constantly thinking about how hideous I look-I had this appearance anxiety? I don't know if you can call it that. But I started doing dhikr every day and prayed so much to Allah SWT to take away these feelings of jealousy and hatred towards myself and the more conventionally attractive people around me. And wallahi, it worked. I'm beyond grateful to Allah SWT-Islam is the only thing keeping me alive right now. I got so close to killing myself over something as small as my appearance, failing to realize there's more to life than this dunya. I still struggle with finding myself beautiful or even showing my face in public, but it's not as bad as before. I've come to terms with my appearance and realized it's okay to be "ugly." Even if society treats you terribly, you always have Allah-your Creator, your Sustainer. You are sufficient for Allah, and Allah is sufficient for you. Even if you feel like the ugliest ogre on earth, even if you're the loneliest you've ever been, turn to Allah, leave it to Allah. Allah is the best of planners. Allah will make it happen, Allah will make you happy-give Him a chance. I'm sorry for this long rambling post and my bad English, but I'm genuinely so grateful for my religion. I would've been nothing if I weren't Muslim. Islam saved me.