Dua to Make Someone Love You Back: The Islamic Answer

You feel it and you cannot explain it away. Someone has your heart and you are not sure what to do with that. You have searched for a dua — something to recite, something to place between you and this feeling, something that might turn their attention toward you.

Islam has an answer here. It is not the one most searches lead to, but it is the honest one.

Does Islam Teach a Dua to Make Someone Love You?

Islam does not provide any supplication to override another person's feelings or will. Using sihr (magic, spells, or charms) to compel affection is forbidden in the Quran — Surah Al-Baqarah (2:102) describes it as a tool of Shaytan that harms both the one who uses it and the one it targets. What Islam does offer is something more powerful: sincere dua for what is genuinely good for you, guidance through istikhara, and the knowledge that Allah places love between hearts when a lawful relationship is built — and that what He places there is more lasting than anything you could engineer.

What the Quran Actually Gives You

The most authentic resource for love in Islam is Surah Al-Furqan (25:74), the supplication of the believers:

رَبَّنَا هَبْ لَنَا مِنْ أَزْوَاجِنَا وَذُرِّيَّاتِنَا قُرَّةَ أَعْيُنٍ وَاجْعَلْنَا لِلْمُتَّقِينَ إِمَامًا

Rabbana hab lana min azwajina wa dhurriyyatina qurrata a'yunin waj'alna lil-muttaqina imama

"Our Lord, grant us from among our wives and offspring comfort to our eyes and make us an example for the righteous."

— (Surah Al-Furqan, 25:74)

Notice what this dua asks for: comfort of the eyes — the deep satisfaction that comes from righteous partnership — not just the feeling of being loved back by one specific person. This is the Quranic framing: love is a gift Allah places in a relationship, not a state you extract from another person.

There is a second supplication, from the sunnah, for after marriage has been established:

اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ لَنَا وَبَارِكْ عَلَيْنَا

Allahumma barik lana wa barik 'alayna

"O Allah, bless what You have given us and send Your blessing upon us."

This is recited after the nikah is complete — because the Islamic view is that love is cultivated within the lawful relationship, not used as a prerequisite for it.

For a Specific Person: The Istikhara Framework

If you love someone and marriage with them is genuinely possible — they are available, halal for you, and you have not closed the door — then the Islamic path is not magic. It is salatul istikhara: the two-rakah prayer in which you ask Allah to ordain this person for you if they are good for your deen, your worldly life, and your long-term wellbeing — and to turn you away from them if the opposite is true.

This prayer does something no charm can: it puts the decision in the hands of the One who can see all outcomes. You are not asking for your feelings to be validated; you are asking for what is actually right. That is a different and more grounded posture.

For the mechanics of this prayer in the context of marriage, see dua for a good spouse.

When Love Is Not Returned

The Prophet ﷺ said: "There is nothing like marriage for those in love" (Ibn Majah 1847). The Prophetic prescription for unrequited love is not a recitation — it is the halal path pursued honestly. If that path is genuinely not available, the Islamic toolkit is:

Make dua for what is better. Ask Allah not to give you this specific person, but to place in your heart something better than what you are feeling now. This is tawakkul in its most personal form — releasing the outcome and trusting that Allah's decree on love is wiser than your longing. See what is tawakkul for the full framework.

Express it if it is lawful to do so. The Prophet ﷺ taught: "If one of you loves his brother, let him tell him" (Abu Dawud 5124). Halal love — for a potential spouse — can be expressed through proper channels. Keeping it entirely internal while consulting no one is not more Islamic; it is more painful.

Guard the gaze. A feeling does not become a problem until you feed it. The Quran's guidance in Surah An-Nur (24:30–31) on lowering the gaze is not a restriction on feeling — it is a practical limit on how much you cultivate a feeling that has no lawful outlet yet.

Islamic Approaches to Love and Longing

Do you feel your duas are unanswered?

Have you read the dua properly? Learn authentic duas, understand their meanings, and call upon Allah with greater confidence through DeenUp.

Take the Dua Quiz

What Islam Says About Love, Directly

The Quran describes the relationship between spouses with three words — mawaddah (affection), rahmah (mercy), and sakan (tranquility) (Surah Ar-Rum, 30:21). These are not the product of a dua recited over a name. They grow through: a lawful relationship, time, honesty, patience, and asking Allah to bless what you are building together.

The feeling that you want the other person to have for you? Islam calls it mawaddah. And the Quran teaches that Allah places it between spouses (30:21) — not that we manufacture it, but that He grants it in His own timing.

For a fuller understanding of what marriage means in Islam and how the dua for a spouse connects to the bigger picture, see the importance of marriage in Islam and dua for love.

A Practical Guide for Anyone in This Situation

If you are reading this because you love someone who does not love you back, this is not a moment for a spell. It is a moment for honesty with yourself and with Allah.

Three things you can do now:

1. Make dua using Surah Al-Furqan 25:74 — not asking for this specific person, but asking for whoever will bring comfort to your eyes and your deen together.

2. Pray istikhara if the relationship is a real possibility — and genuinely accept either answer.

3. Ask Allah to ease the longing — directly, in your own words, in whatever language you speak most naturally. The Prophet ﷺ said that calling on Allah by name, directly, is itself one of the greatest acts of worship.

The DeenBack guide on morning dua routine offers a practical structure for building the kind of dua practice that makes these moments of personal prayer easier — so that when you need to bring something this close to your heart to Allah, you already know how. The Demi Manifest piece on tawakkul in daily life is a thoughtful companion for the work of releasing outcomes to Allah — including the ones involving people you love.

Love Is a Door, Not a Lock

The longing you feel is not something to be ashamed of or to silence with a recitation. It is a human experience that Islam addresses honestly — with boundaries, with authentic duas, and with a framework that trusts Allah's knowledge of what is right for you over your own certainty in the moment.

What you do with that longing — whether you direct it toward what is lawful or try to force it through what is forbidden — is the decision that matters.

Do you feel your duas are unanswered?

Have you read the dua properly? Learn authentic duas, understand their meanings, and call upon Allah with greater confidence through DeenUp.

Take the Dua Quiz