Being Grateful and Asking Allah

The main part of my job at the moment is raising enquiries, brought in by the Councillors and the Mayor, with the relevant Council service or external agency, and seeing if it can be resolved. People come to the Mayor’s and Councillor’s surgeries, e-mail them, write to them or just approach them in the street.

The area I serve is a borough with one of the highest levels of deprivation and child poverty in the country . Unemployment is high and many of the schools underperforming. It really can be an eye-opener to the way people live, even in one of the wealthiest countries in the world. The most predominant query we are asked is “when will I get my own place from the Council”. People are trying to get themselves somewhere permanent to stay, get custody or access to their children, improve the sometimes horrendous state of the properties they are given (mice, cockroaches, damp and mould which lead to eczema and breathing difficulties, asbestos, which can cause cancer). People are desperate to ensure their children do well, so the same few good schools are seriously over-subscribed and the majority of the children are herded into the same under-performing schools full of girls who screech instead of talk and wear their skirts as belts and boys who have lost their belts – which is the only possible reason their pants would be hanging under their skinny bottoms. There are serious issue with crime and anti-social behaviour including gangs of young people getting rowdy, fights over parking and people fly-tipping their rubbish on public roads and with the council at a loss with what to do except refer it all to the Police.


It makes me very grateful that I have a safe clean(ish) place to live in, good schools in this area (except the nearest one), fairly clean streets and a job to go to. It also makes me think about who we go to for help. The Councillors and Mayor cannot sidestep the procedures and systems in place. If you are number 27,999 out of the approximately 28,000 people on this borough’s waiting list, they cannot create a miracle for you.

This is why I am a big believer that if you have a problem, it is not the men in suits that can do anything to help. They are the subject to the same “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” as the rest of us. That’s not to say that we should not go to people in authority and raise our concerns. Even better we can become the ones that other people come to when they need assistance. But I still know who I need to go to when I really need help knowing He is the one that will respond to my supplications.

I wish all of these people that write, e-mail and call were also able to trust in someone higher and greater than people who can try their best, but cannot guarantee anything. In contrast Allah is the one that we know for certain is listening and has the power to help us. May Allah ease the problems of all those in pain and difficulty.

“And your Lord says: Make duaa (supplicate) unto me, and I will respond and accept your duaa” ~Al-Quran 40:60

“I respond and accept the duaa of the one who supplicates unto me” ~Al-Quran 2:186

"The person who does not ask from Allah Ta’ala, Allah Ta’ala becomes angry with him."
~at-Tirmidhi, Ahmad

"If you ask, ask Allah and if you seek help, seek help from Allah." ~at-Tirmidhi, Ahmad