Every teenager can relate to the social and physical awkwardness that comes being a teenager. For Muslim teenagers, this period may even be more awkward for you because you are just getting to discover yourself in a world that is becoming increasingly intolerant towards Muslims.
How do you build your self-confidence in a way that you are comfortable with who you are and you are not caught up with trying to be what others want you to be? We share some self-confidence tips for the Muslim teenager.
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Understand Your Deen
One of the most important traits of a self-confident person is that they know who they are. They understand and believe in themselves. For you as a Muslim teenager, apart from believing in your own self, it is important to understand and believe in your deen.
Read the holy Qur’an as much as you can and reflect on the meaning of Allah (swt)’s words so that whenever anyone tries to bring you down because of your faith, the words of Allah (swt) brings you reassurance and confidence in who you are.
Remember how the people of Makkah would persecute the holy Prophet (saw) as he tried to preach the oneness of Allah (swt)? Why do you think that the Prophet kept going even in the face of all that embarrassment? It is because he knew the value of the words of Allah (swt), and he was confident in who he was as a Muslim!
Keep Righteous Circles
People say that you are a reflection of your closest friends, and even the holy Prophet said that “A man follows the religion of his friend; so each one should consider whom he makes his friend.” (Sunan Abi Dawud)
Your friends have a great influence on the way you think and the experiences that you will have in life. This is why it is very important to move with friends who are righteous and who help you aspire to become better.
These types of friends will hardly get you in trouble, they will stay away from negativity, and they will not be those types of friends that kick your self-confidence to make themselves feel better.
When you make friends with people who are trying to be self-confident like you, there will be so much positivity in your group that everyone will feel comfortable in their own skin.
Seek Parental Advice
The teenage years are the years that we want to become our own self. We want to make the decisions and be free from our parents’ many rules. But this is also the time to actually seek their advice more so that you do not make decisions that you will regret in your 20s.
As a Muslim teenager, your parents are a good source of self-confidence for you because they want the best for you and in most cases are your greatest cheerleaders.
Avoid Comparing Yourself to Others
One of the things that affect people’s self-confidence in the social media age is comparison. You log into Facebook and you wish that you were your friend currently vacationing with his parents on an island. Or that you are the girl whose older brother just got a new phone.
One of the best traits that any Muslim can possess is contentment, and that comes with not comparing yourself to other people. There may be people who more academically brilliant than you are, whose folks have more money, or who seem to have everything that you want.
When you feel like someone has it better than you, instead of envying them or comparing your life to theirs, be grateful for everything that Allah (swt) has blessed you with and remember that He said: “If you are grateful, I will surely increase you [in favor]; but if you deny, indeed, My punishment is severe.” (Qur’an 14:7)
Set Goals
Goal-setting is not only for adults. As a teenager, now is a good time to start building your future. How would you like to see yourself in ten years? What would you like to be known for? Now is the time to set goals that will help you become the kind of adult that you hope to grow up to be.
The other good thing about setting goals, apart from giving you a sense of direction for your future, is also that it helps build your self-confidence. It gives you the feeling that you are growing up to become a person that makes good choices and is capable of building a good life for themselves.
As you go on a journey to building your self-confidence as a Muslim teenager, one thing that you should always remember is that this is a journey. No one becomes self-confident overnight, rather, it is the process of consciously making good choices that will help you grow into a confident adult.
Related Video On Muslim Teenagers by Nouman Ali Khan
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