The arrival of 21st century has seen the coming up of the Digital Revolution, in the package also came a poisonous disease, a disease that kills both the body and the soul, that is playing a major role in destroying the family, that has corrupted the minds of youth.
It is about time we stop ignoring the ELEPHANT in the room and start addressing the problem of pornography & try to solve the problem of this spreading cancer.
Allah says in the Holy Quran:
“He Who created Death and Life, that He may test which of you is best in deed: and He is the Exalted in Might, Oft-Forgiving” [Al-Mulk, 67:2]
And one of the greatest test Allah placed in Man is the desire of the opposite gender as Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said:
“I have not left behind me any fitnah (temptation) more harmful to men than women.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 5096; Muslim, 2740.
We have entered the hyper-sexualized century , in which acts of indecency & nudity are just considered as modern and normal , in which pornography is seen everywhere even in Newspapers, Advertising etc.
The new generation literally FEEDS on pornography; here are some authentic statistics to blow up your mind:
- 25% of requests on search engines (68 million daily pornographic searches )
- 35% of downloads are related to pornography.
- 2.5 billion Emails sent or received every day contain porn.
- Every 39 minutes a new pornography video is being created in the United States
- Pornography is a $12-$13 billion- a-year industry – more than the combined annual revenues of the Coca-Cola & Mac Doneels!!
- 42.7% of internet users have viewed pornography.
- Over 30% of sites on the World Wide Web are pornographic(4.2 million website )
- The first exposure to pornography among men is 12 years old, on average.
- $3,075.64 is spent on pornography every second
28,258 people are viewing pornography every second.
The time we come across this statistics we think there are not & there cannot be many Muslims involved among the viewers, but the sad reality is Muslims are on the LEAD.
Checkout what Wikipedia has to say?
“Google, the world’s most popular Internet search engine, has found in a survey that mostly Muslim states seek access to sex-related websites and Pakistan tops the list. Google found that of the top 8 countries – searching for sex-related sites – SIX were MUSLIM, with Pakistan on the top. The other Muslim countries are Egypt at number 2, Iran at 4, Morocco at 5, Saudi Arabia at 7 and Turkey at 8.”
(Following countries are also highest in Bestiality related searches)
Some more stats:
- Arabic is the 2nd most common language that is used to search for porn.
- Despite strict controls in KSA, a study in Saudi Arabia focusing on teenager’s mobile phones showed that up to 70% of files exchanged between phones contained pornography.
This evil has spread wild among the Muslim youth as small as 7, it has reached everywhere.
The spread is alarming.
The reason for this alarming growth in viewers is due to the addiction caused by pornography …..Yes ADDICTION, Addiction worse than that of Cocaine.
While cocaine is harder to acquire, expensive and poses risks, Porn addiction sustains on Availability, Affordability & Anonymity for the user, it releases the same chemicals in the brain as drugs.
THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS IN A NUT SHELL (THE SCIENCE)
The brain has a reward pathway which is responsible for a man becoming happy & gaining pleasure, like a person enjoys his favorite flavor of ice cream.
As the person is initially exposed in his early years to pornography, his brain release abnormally huge quantities of dopamine.
Both having sex and watching porn causes dopamine, the neurotransmitter responsible for reward and pleasure, to be released.
But repeatedly causing this surge in dopamine – by regularly watching pornography – means the brain become desensitized to its effects & thus greater, more vulgar and in most cases more violent stimuli are needed to attain the same amount of pleasure. This cycle continues and the person has already unknowingly become addicted this filthy drug.
The rush of brain chemicals happening over and over again rewires the brain’s reward pathway ultimately changing the makeup of the viewer’s brain. This results in an increased appetite for porn.
IN FEW WORDS THE REWARD Pathway is hijacked.
Some of the consequences of this hijack include (These aren’t just claims but facts backed with solid researches) :
- It creates emotional bond with artificial world.
- Hormonal imbalance
- Causes erectile dysfunction
- Anger & Frustration
- Drained out & Lethargy
- Lack of satisfaction from the real world.
- Increases marital infidelity by 300%
- Increases sexual appetite & loss of control on the self
- Waste of hours of life
- A study published in JAMA Psychiatry in 2014 found regularly viewing pornography seemed to dull the response to sexual stimulation over time.
- Women began to be seen as an object.
And the most important of the consequences for a believer is certainly gaining the displeasure of Allah.
Allah says in the Quran:
“And tell the believing women to lower their gaze (from looking at forbidden things), and protect their private parts (from illegal sexual acts)”[al-Noor 24:31]
This is the Zina of the Eye (Bukhaari, 5889; Muslim, 2657)
Controlling the desires has been ordained in the Quran and the Hadith,
Prophet Muhammad, Allah bless him and give him peace, said in authentic narrations:
- “Whoever can promise me what is between their lips and what is between their thighs I will promise for them paradise.” [Sahih Muslim]
- “The Paradise is surrounded by hardships and the Hell-Fire is surrounded by temptations.” (Sahih Muslim)
Controlling the desires is an important part of attaining Taqwa and righteousness.
Two sayings Imam Ghazali expound on these Hadith
- “Half of Shaytans Army is Desire and Other Half is Anger”
Thus by controlling the desire you overpower half of Shaytans army.
- “Whenever man falls prey to lust, he sinks to the lowest of the low and joins the animal herd. Whenever he curbs his desires, he ascends to the highest of the high and attains the angelic level.”
-Imam al-Ghazali [Inner Dimensions of Islamic Worship]
Look at the people addicted and high in desires: don’t they commit acts even which animals feel ashamed to commit?
Ibn Taimiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, said: “The effects that lust has on a person, such as loss of intellect and knowledge, corruption of manners and religion, and being busied by it leading to neglect of religious and worldly benefits, are far more than the positive [effects of lust].
Fellow Believers look at the Pros and Cons , Advantages & Disadvantages of this poisonous honey , which may give pleasure for a blink of an eye , but its effects last for a lifetime , rather which shall be seen even on the Day of Judgment.
Realize that the pleasure it gives lasts for few seconds while the pain is forever.
Allah has said in the Quran “their hearing and their eyes and their skins will testify against them of what they used to do” (Quran 41:20)
And He said:
“On the Day when their tongues, their hands, and their feet will bear witness against them as to their actions” (Quran 24:24)
Just imagine yourself standing in front of your Lord, the Most Gracious and your own body, your own tongue, your own hands and feet giving witness against you, against your own deeds.
Having seen the ill effects, pornography has on the physical, social, spiritual well being of the individual and society, it is about time the masses are educated on this issue that is so rampant that I must say at least 1 in 3 persons reading this article must have experienced this problem at least once in their lifetime.
We need individuals to rise from the Ummah & from the intellectual and scholarly communities, who are well versed in both the knowledge of the religion and the sciences of Human Psychiatry as this is not just a problem of the soul but also of the mind.
The 1st step against this problem is educating ourselves and the masses about the harmful effects caused to the body and the soul which will encourage us to think about the solutions.
Most important thing to do is to ask Allah to keep us and our dear ones away from this evil.
The solution to this problem deserves a separate detailed article to be written.
But certainly there is a light at the end of the tunnel for those affected by this disease
Verily we have wronged ourselves and our sins are enormous, but remember the Mercy and Forgiveness of our Lord is far greater.
Allah says:
“And those who, when they have committed Fahishah (illegal sexual intercourse etc.) or wronged themselves with evil, remember Allah and ask forgiveness for their sins; – and none can forgive sins but Allah – and do not persist in what (wrong) they have done, while they know”( Quran 3:135)
Allah says to His slaves who sinned: “Say,
“O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by committing sins], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful.” (Quran 39:53)
May Allah SWT protect us from this evil and help those involved in it to free themselves.
