American Muslim

Developing Patience with the Job Search

Asalaam Alaikum (Peace be with you),

Many of you know that I've been working at an Islamic school in Chicago for the last 8 months, but have been hankering to get back to teaching in the collegiate setting. My background is in political science and though I may not stay in that field forever - thinking about moving now more into public policy, public health - my roots are in "poli sci." I've been applying to jobs everywhere and had a really great interview about two months ago at Georgia Perimeter College in Atlanta, which I blogged about previously. Last week, I heard that the search committee had recommended my name for employment, but now begins the tortuous crawl of my application through the college bureaucracy, which I fully understand.

But, man it's just so hard to be patient. The Islamic notion of sabr (patience) is a big part of the deen (religion) because as Muslims, we do not believe in luck or coincidence. EVERYTHING is the will of Allah (SWT) and He has full knowledge of all. A famous ayat (verse) from the Qur'an states that Allah (SWT) is closer to the Muslim than even the jugular vein. Subhanallah.

I just read a great article from the Chronicle of Higher Education about the joys of teaching @ community colleges because the institutions demand different things from teachers than say, a four-year university. Unfortunately, as the writer notes, too many people apply for community college positions with a mindset that they are "slumming." I would like to eventually teach at a four-year school, but for now, I would to just get back into the active teaching of political science and daily encouragement of students to get involved in community service and teaching.

May Allah (SWT) grant me the taufiq (ability) to do well in my interviews and in my career and may He grant me sabr (patience) to let my faith in Him guide my actions and be patient about this job search.