Question
I have been facing troubles for quiet some years now. I pray every day and ask Allah after every salah. I do istighfar daily as well. I try my very best to stay away from sins as much as possible. I am still not getting a Job? I don’t know what is wrong. I have done a lot of prayers, a lot of supplications, a lot of entreaties, and wazifas but Allah is not happy with me. Probably it is my previous sins for which I ask forgiveness every day. I need a secure job. I am well qualified and have experience from best possible organization but I am not getting a Job anywhere since 2010. Please help me out I am lost and I am becoming sick thinking about it. I can’t control it anymore. What should I do?
Answer
First, you can never say for sure that your prayer is not answered. Sometimes God answers our prayers, however the answer is not what we expect or we do not notice the answer.
Second, you need to correct your understanding that when you see no answer to your prayer that means God is not happy with you. This is not necessarily true.
There can be numerous reasons why your prayers are not answered the way you expect, for instance:
– maybe it is part of the challenge (test) that God wants you to go through to empower your personality and faith, where you need to keep your hope and keep prarying for a longer time to receive what you want
– maybe for some reasons unknown to you, it is not wise for you to have the job you are looking for just now
– maybe God likes you to be a better believer before answering your prayers
– the longer you pray and despite not seeing your answer keep your faith on God, the stronger will be your faith and your relationship with God. This can have tremendous effect on erasing your sins and their bad effects, which is much more important than just getting a job.
Appreciating the above, this is my suggestion:
1. Keep looking for the jobs you are interested in and make every effort to make sure you will not miss any good opportunity, and that you have the qualifications that the employers are looking for, and make your qualifications known to them. If possible widen up your search for a job and be a bit more flexible about what you want.
2. At the same time read the prayer of Istikharah on a regular basis, on a specific and appropriate time of the day, every day. This is simply two Rak’ah of prayer just like the morning prayer, and after that you will ask God to give you what is the best for your life here and in the hereafter and to make you satisfied with it. The wording recommended for this supplication after the prayer is as follows:
اَللّهُمَّ إِنِّى أَسْتَخِيرُكَ بِعِلْمِكَ وَأَسْتَقْدِرُكَ بَقُدْرَتِكَ وَأَسْأَلُكَ مِنْ فَضْلِكَ الْعَظيمِ فَإِنَّكَ تَقْدِرُ وَلاَ أَقْدِرُ وَتَعْلَمُ وَلاَ أَعْلَمُ وَأَنْتَ عَلاَّمُ الْغُيُوبِ اَللّهُمَّ إِنْ كُنْتَ تَعْلَمُ أَنَّ هذَا اْلاَمْرَ خَيْرٌ لى فِى دينى وَمَعَاشِى وَعَاقِبَةِ أَمْرِى فَاقْدُرْهُ لى وَيَسِّرْهُ لى ثُمَّ بَارِكْ لى فيهِ وَإِنْ كُنْتَ تَعْلَمُ أَنَّ هذَا اْلأَمْرَ شَرٌّ لى فِى دينى وَمَعَاشِي وَعَاقِبَةِ أَمْرى فَاصْرِفْهُ عَنِّى وَاصْرِفْنى عَنْهُ وَاقْدُرْ لِى الْخَيْرَ حَيْثُ كَانَ ثُمَّ أَرْضِنى بِه
O Allah ! I ask guidance from Your knowledge, and Power from Your Might and I ask for Your great blessings. You are capable and I am not. You know and I do not. And You know the unseen. O Allah! If You know that this affair is good for my deen and my subsistence and for my Hereafter – then ordain it for me and make it easy for me to obtain, and then bless me in it. If You know that this thing is harmful for me in my deen and subsistence and for my share in the Hereafter then keep it away from me, and keep me away from it. And ordain for me whatever is good for me, and make me satisfied with it).” (Bukhari)
In your case, “this affair” in the above means the sort of job you are looking for. Please note, at least in your case, this is not about looking for signs after prayer to decide what you want to do. This is about asking God to give you what you think is good for you while putting your trust on God that ultimately He will give you what is the best for you.
As I wrote read this regularly while looking for a job, and keep reading it till you feel that your prayer is answered. However remember, the answer to your prayer could be that sort of the job that you are wishing for, or could be something else that you never thought of. Feeling satisfaction and confidence in the state you are in just now might also be an answer to your prayer.
I also pray that you get what is the best for you.
Answered by: Farhad Shafti
Date: 2014-12-08
