In my life I have been exposed to amazing opportunities and moments which most people rarely get to see. But with the good, you must allow yourself to witness moments which will conversely not be as enjoyable. Last week whilst volunteering for a local MP, I was able to come face to face with situations which were foreign to me. What I didn’t know was that it was this next two weeks would have a profound effect on me as a person. Throughout the placement, I dealt which serious health issues, human rights issues, to simple squabbles between neighbours.

Towards the end of my time at the office, I was able to shadow some home visits of local constituents in my area. As I entered the first house in an Asian estate, there was a sombre atmosphere where a young Asian man led us into a small little room. In that room, I met a frail middle-aged woman lying on a broken bed moaning from her pain. We were told she had suffered a stroke 6 months ago, and she was unable to move, and subsequently she was living in what would be her dining room/kitchen area. Honestly, the scene itself brought tears to my eyes. I wasn’t sure if it was her physical state or the living conditions they were in. There was Qur’an playing in the background, and religious symbols draping the walls around the home. It was humbling to see a family which had been hit with such a personal tragedy, yet their closeness with God was unaffected.

As we went on from house to house, the circumstances were similar if not worse. However, it was the patience and the friendliness of the people that shone through. Being an Asian neighbourhood, they were pleased to see a local young Muslim woman partaking in local politics, and so I felt this instantaneous connection which put us on a shared level of understanding regardless of the language barrier.

When I finished the visits, I sat in the car feeling upset and remained quiet. I was shocked that this level of local poverty existed in such close proximity to my own home. Coming from a comfortable upbringing, I was always told I was sheltered and unaware of the “real world”. It hit me right then that this was the real world. I looked at my problems, and I felt ashamed to call them problems in comparison to those which others were experiencing. I felt a sense of disgust at Politicians at the top of the hierarchy who were unaware of the disastrous effect on the people they were supposed to be looking out for. What was more aggravating was that it is the same elite, who come from a specific section of society, who have never come into contact with people such as these in order to truly see the effect of their own political decisions from the roots.

There are politicians who work in their field in order to create their own personal brand of superiority and power. On the other hand there are real politicians who carry their people’s interests in their heart, and give a voice to the neglected. They strive to make life better for every section of society.

It is so easy for people to become unheard and meaningless. At the same time, it is so easy for those in better standards of living to put our fingers in our ears and brush away the harsh realities those below us are experiencing. I left my work experience coming out with more than just a career benefit. Those two weeks gave me a feeling of thankfulness for everything I had, and a sense of urgency to pursue my career in the political arena in order to do what I can to help people just like the ones I had come across. What attracts me to politics? Is it the power, the corruption, the salary or the other appealing benefits? No, I grew up believing politics is the where decisions were made to improve people, your area, your nation, and the world.

In order to improve in life, you need to aim for the top, yet keep an eye on the bottom. Whether you’re interested in politics, science, or the arts, take yourself out of your comfort zone and take as much out of life as you can, be it good or bad. It is moments like these which will shape who you become as a person.

Having a relationship with God is one of the strongest bonds anyone can create. The unique thing about this rapport is that you are the sole conductor of it, and therefore it is ultimately in your hands to determine the strength of this connection. When things go wrong and you feel detached from God, you must ask yourself: who moved? From my own personal experience, Allah (God) to me is with me wherever I go. He is entwined into my conscience which subsequently helps me to decide upon my actions – what is right and what is wrong. Many people look to faith as a moral guide, setting the boundaries of life, and obeisance of this will enable you to be rewarded eternally. Being in the UK, there has recently been a shift in the levels of religious involvement. This is down to many factors such as the pursuit of Liberalism, and generally as human beings we are becoming more self inclined, leading us to not want to have to be held accountable for our actions. Personally, I feel disappointed that so many are missing out on such a close relationship with God, and I feel that this is because of the misunderstanding of His role. You often find particularly in the Muslim faith, Allah’s functions are viewed in a punitive manner rather than a loving one. This will be partly due to the way parents have brought up their children with the idea that if you do X wrong, God will punish you in Y way. As representatives of faith, we should be concentrating on God as a support mechanism, and a constant source of love and affection. Yes, without a doubt there are certain actions which may have consequences, yet we do not express as strongly the ability of God to forgive. His mercy extends beyond belief, and the root of that is His love for us. Seeing God as a Judge who hands out a punishment takes away from His capacity to love and to respect the human beings whom He has created.

In light of recent events, we have seen ourselves often questioning our duties to fellow human beings around the world. Living in the UK, in comparison to people from other countries, we live a very lavish lifestyle - food, shelter, and our basic rights are all protected. As cliché as it may sound, we really DO take it for granted. This semester studying about international justice really took me by surprise. Here I was, a political philosophy student, studying about whether people around the world deserve the same access to basic commodities as we do here. Truth be told, I felt uncomfortable that this issue actually needed to be debated about. In those moments, all I found myself thinking about was dying, starving children in the third world who are being punished literally because of where they were born. I felt like I had the power to juggle their life chances in my hands, yet at the same time, I felt so powerless to actually actively help them. Our birthplace is a luxury, therefore anything we do have, isn’t really “ours”. We see poverty on the television, we hear the news, and we know the statistics...the fact of the matter is, we have become numb to it. But why should we dismiss the deaths and the poor qualities of living standards? As human beings, we have to neglect our superiority, and break down the barriers which have dictated our standards of living. We are all equal, we share the same air, and we see the same sky, therefore we all have a duty to respect everyone’s minimum of basic human rights. Being a moral agent involves you having compassion, and the ability to feel other people’s pain and instinctively want to help. As a global unit, we are moving closer together and exchanging our goods, values and cultures. Within this process, we should also transfer our duties and our helping hands to others. The biggest threat to war and conflict is the peaceful existence of people side by side. So stand in the way of these obstacles and pursue the rights of everyone, because together we’re stronger. In this temporary life, we have one chance to make a change to the world, and ultimately this will determine your future in the hereafter.