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Job Hunting? Apply to Paradise.

Written by Abu Mamoon Ahmad Abdul Rahman ibn Azizur Rahman

August
12

I recently got back into the job market to start “poking around” to see what other opportunities are available. In this process I was reminded of death. You may wonder how the two can possibly be related…

Let me prefix my explanation with the following clarification. Jobs are created by employers driven by a need. Allah (swt) has no needs.

When job hunting, it’s typical for people to start writing and re-writing their resume several times until it has a polished finish. The goal: to secure a position with a big organization to apply my skills and experience and to continue to learn and grow within the organization. Sounds pretty good and fulfilling. So you start out by putting your name and contact information… you want to make sure all the good stuff you write about yourself is attributed to you. Then maybe you add your “objective”. Probably similar to the “goal” I just mentioned. Follow this by your education. You add 2 or 3 line items for education… seems pretty small for 15-20 years of your life. Move on to Experience. Now you can really start writing… describe all the good things you were responsible for, all your achievements, special projects, direct reports, budget responsibility etc. Read it over, fix a few grammatical errors… get up, stretch, smile and feel proud of all you have achieved over the years.

Time to start applying. So you open a browser and go to your favorite online job board and search for keywords to describe the job you are looking for… wow… look at how many people need you. Filter by salary… hmmm… no so many people any more… the rest probably weren’t good companies anyways ;). So you start to read the job descriptions… seems like a good fit. Let’s read a little about the company… very interesting… lots of growth potential, they pay for further education, bonuses, good benefits package, good starting vacation period, car allowance… wow… this is really good… I want this job. Let’s apply. So you send your entire life history (resume) to them on 2 pages… 2 pages. 20-30 years on 2 pages. Interesting.

The company calls you a few days later and are interested… come in for an interview. So you show up on time, dressed up nice, suit, tie, nice cologne, a little gel in the hair… need to give a good impression. You get seated, feeling comfortable and confident. You know what you are doing, you have the education, the skills, the experience… they can’t turn you down. You walk out convinced you only need to wait for them to call back and sign some papers.

They don’t call… but you do get an email… Thank you for your interest in this position however we have decided to pursue other options. You did not disclose your criminal record or poor credit rating. OH OH. How did they find out ?

And so comes the reminder of death.

When we all appear before Allah (swt) our book of deeds will be open. Good and bad. You don’t need to put your name on your deeds as Allah (SWT) has already taken care of this for you. You can try to hide bad history from a potential employer, but they can still find out. And they are only human. You had everything they needed… so what if you have bad credit rating… that shouldn’t have any effect on your job? But rules are rules. And so it is with the rules of life. A few small things shouldn’t stop you from entering Jannah… or will it?

Lying
Stealing
Fraud
Backbiting
Hate
Swearing
Zina
Proudness
Drinking
Haram Food
Drugs
Violence
Anger
Greed
Oppression
Breaking Promises

And the list goes on…

When was the last time we dressed up nice for Allah (swt) by following the dress code of our beloved Prophet (pbuh)?

When was the last time we looked at our list of good deeds to present to Allah (swt) for entry into Paradise? Try this as an exercise… write down all your good deeds. This of course does NOT include obligatory acts such as salat, fasting, zakat, hajj. Those you have to do regardless. That is the equivalent of you writing on your resume “I can speak English”. That is already a pre-requisite. Without it, you have no chance whatsoever. The same applies to the Fard actions, and Imaan. Without both, your chances are negligible. How long is your list? You would think it should be at least as long as your resume… not there yet? Neither am I. I won’t ask you to put a list of bad deeds… but I will encourage you to envision how lengthy a list that would create.

When was the last time we were “on-time” for salat? Not leaving it for the last minute. Seems that we can find time to get to a job interview early just fine… but what about ibaadat for Allah (swt)?

Brothers and sisters, it’s time we start polishing up our resume for the akhirat… that is the ideal job that will never end.

Try to put life into perspective. Your whole life can be put on 2 pages. Which way will your balance scale lean ?

May Allah (SWT) guide us to clean up our “credit rating” by seeking Allah (SWT)’s forgiveness and doing tauba and may Allah (SWT) help us increase our good deeds to please Allah (SWT) and ultimately grant us entry into Paradise.

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