The Broom of La
I cannot deny, there are times when I would get itchy-handed and take a sneak peak at the ex’s facebook page, out of mere curiosity more than anything else. It has been approximately two years since we broke up, but still the heart is such that I still feel little shots of pain when seeing images of him and his current partner, accompanied with captions like, “Me and my hot girlfriend.”
It’s not that I still have feelings for him, God no, but sometimes when you have spent so much time with someone, the imprints are harder to remove (and that’s one of the reasons why Islam forbids relationships before marriage.. but that’s a story for another day). But the difference between who I was months ago and who I am now, is that I don’t dwell on it anymore like I used to… Instead, I renew my niyyah.
Instead of looking at his ‘hot girlfriend’ and feeling hurt/angry etc, I take a step back, remember Allah, and remember that I am here, right now, because I have made the choice to protect myself from His heat in the hereafter. I recall my niyyah, and I sweep my thoughts with the broom of ‘la’.
The sufis use the broom of ‘la’, of no, to sweep out these things from the heart. If you allow room in your heart for sorrow, laziness and deceit, they will eventually take over your life, and it will be more difficult to find joy, happiness and bliss.
So we attempt to clean our house from everything that is not Allah. With this broom of la, this broom of no. The broom of not giving in to our desires and lusts. The broom of the moment of knowing that something is not good for us, to say no. To be protected by the cloak of faith, a robe woven by the names and attributes of Allah swt. [Shems Friedlander]
The broom of ‘la’, how beautiful :)
It’s not just about getting over someone, it’s more, much more. It’s about throwing off the covers at 5am and battling the ghosts in your head whilst walking to the toilet to take wudhu’. It’s about clamping your mouth shut as someone eggs you on to spill a gossip. It’s about prying your eyes away from the television screen when the call from your mother rings through the house. It’s about forcing yourself to sit, and read, instead of painting the town red. It’s about getting up for another round of sunnah prayers after your fardh… and the list goes on.
Many times in life we find ourselves in the middle of a crossroad, and more often than not, one path leads to attaining His affection, whilst the other brings us away from Him. But as the forgetful insaan, we forget our niyyah, and we choose the latter way, the easy way. Because we are lazy like that.
But from today onwards, insyaAllah with this new insight, you and I, we need to know that we do have the power to change things (biiznillah). We will remember Allah, seek His forgiveness, recall our objective in being born into this world, and we will bring out our broom of ‘la’ every time such negative thoughts creep into our head and heart.
We will leave no room for dust and grime to settle; we will sweep and sweep and continue sweeping the surface of our heart, until it glitters and shines and is able to reflect the noor of Allah. Only then, and only then, will we be able to understand and feel the serenity, the peace, the happiness, the contentment of the people of taqwa.
With the broom of La, we will start cleaning the mess that is our hearts today, one speck of dust at a time, InsyaAllah :)
