Islam has put in place a set of laws that takes into account our natural instincts, failings, how our minds work, as well as what is beneficial and detrimental to us in both the short and long terms. These laws are not designed to break us, but to grant us a wholesome and successful life in this world and beyond. On the other hand, the devil and his cohorts try to upset this ordered existence by inciting us to do things that are destructive both mentally and physically.
Very few things have wreaked havoc in the modern age on nearly every strata of society as pornography and specifically internet porn addiction. It is a stark reality of our era that is confronting Imams across the globe, yet we are still sweeping it under the carpet. In this feature, we outline the problem and steps that can be taken to get out of this devastating plot of Satan.
Silent suffering.
Attraction between the sexes is a natural human quality. Islam acknowledges this and does not prevent people from fulfilling their desires. Rather, it regulates it so that people can enjoy it in the most wholesome way possible. The default position would be for someone to adhere to these rules and not fall into the sin at all. The pressure of not giving in to the sin is way less when compared to the anguish and long road of trying to stop an addiction to sin. So the successful youth is the one who can maintain this discipline.
At the same time we need to address those whose hearts and minds are already captured by the addiction to porn. Many are silently suffering this addiction. The reality is that we quickly become desensitized to nudity, immoral scenes and porn. It has made its way into everyday viewing on different platforms with no acknowledgement of it even being a problem. Just because it is portrayed in a main stream series does not make it any less harmful. One glance can lead to a debilitating addiction which only gets addressed when devastating spiritual or social consequences occur.
The major root cause is the usage of the eye and feeding temptation through visual stimuli, something the West either deliberately or through ignorance refuses to acknowledge. The world is grappling with the scourge of child kidnapping, human trafficking, institutional abuse of women, girls and boys, rape and a host of other sickening acts that are primarily driven by sexual lust. In 2009, nearly half a million rapes took place in South Africa. There were more than 67,000 cases of rape and sexual assault on kids in the country in 2000.
The human form.
Allah Ta’ala orders us to cover the human form which He has created. The opposing forces of the devil works to expose the human form. Depictions of intimate and depraved sexual acts have been found on artefacts from ancient Mesopotamia, Sumeria, the Assyrian Empire and ancient Egypt. When excavations were made of Pompeii in the 1860s, much of the erotic art of the Romans came to light. This shocked the Victorians who saw themselves as the intellectual heirs of the Romans and they hid it away.
When photography was invented, photographic porn soon followed. When the motion picture arrived, the inevitable outlet of human lust followed – initially porn films were produced for the wealthy, until they became mainstream from 1969-1984. With the internet came an unprecedented increase in porn viewing. The devil was now doing wholesale business.
Big companies have gained control of porn sites using legal loopholes by operating under a complex structure of multiple companies in places that are so-called tax havens. One of the top five bandwidth consumption consumers in the world is video streaming. It totally dominates the internet. During peak hours in North America, 70% of the bandwidth is taken by video streaming.
Now the next step has come into play – bringing porn, nudity and intimate sexual scenes to mainstream video streaming in the form of Netflix and others. It has even crept into documentaries. It says much for society and how degraded and debased we have become that viewers find it normal.
What is the extent of the problem within society?
Porn addiction is increasingly a cause for much of societal problems. The associated fallout is clearly being felt – the breakdown of the family unit with even young husbands unable to satisfy their wives sexually, the cheapening of the role of the wife and mother, the loss of manhood, the rise in sexual perversions and violent sexual crimes. Studies show that internet porn addiction leads to physical problems and this in turn becomes damaging to one’s emotional wellbeing.
The benefits of giving up porn addiction.
Ibn al Qayyim rahimahullah lists among the benefits of controlling the gaze that,
- One gets sweetness in one’s faith and enjoyment,
- The heart is strengthened and achieves peace,
- The balance within one’s mind allows for the making of correct decisions instead of constantly messing things up,
- You gain physical and spiritual strength, and
- It frees you from the clutches of the devil and the fever of addiction.
Modern studies show that giving up internet porn addiction makes you more confidant, happy, smart, more vibrant looking, gives you a sharper mind allowing you to think clearer, and in the majority of cases you will start to function normally in sexual terms.
Ways to beat the addiction.
- Admit that you have been ensnared by the devil and only Allah Ta’ala can help you.
- Admit that you have no control.
- Do an honest self-analysis and see what triggers your addiction. Work out how you reached this point.
- Change your environment. This can be a trigger.
- Remove all porn from your devices.
- Never say one last time. This is a trap of the devil.
- Leave out artificial stimulation and shift to real life. This will reduce the intense craving. In actual fact you need to reboot your brain. By changing your behavior, you change your brain structure. After giving up the addiction your brain will first try to hurt you into succumbing again. Continue, the brain will eventually accept.
- Take it a day at a time. You might need 2-3 weeks to recover balance, or 2-6 months or even more.
- Exercise is a solid mood regulator. Essentially you need to divert your mind. Go outside, take up a hobby. It’s a big shift for your brain.
- Fetishes are not permanent no matter what your mind is telling you. They generally grow from the illusions created by what you watch.
These are just some of the things that can help in breaking the addiction. There is a lot of help out there. Make a start, you will never regret it.
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