Pornography consumption is not something that can easily be stopped. Once the appetite for it has developed, it actually increases.
In his 1988 study Pornography Effects: Empirical and Clinical Evidence, Victor Cline, then with the University of Utah's Department of Psychology noted that studies show pornography is progressive and addictive for many. It often leads to the user acting out his fantasy - often on children.
For those who have been trained from a young age to lower their gaze and practice Islamic principles of modesty, this may not even be an issue.
But for those who have sadly fallen into pornography addiction, there is a way out.
Alcoholics' Anonymous is an organization that has fought the battle against alcohol addiction since 1935. Its "Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous" provides a clear, general guide on how to get out of the addiction of alcohol, which has killed people, ruined families and led to health problems.
Sound Vision has adapted the 12 steps from this guide to offer some guidance on how those addicted to pornography can get out of it.
Step One-Admit that you can't give up
Admit that you are unable to get a grip on your consumption of pornography. It is uncontrollable. Every time you turn on the internet, go to the video store, turn on the television, you cannot say NO to yourself. You cannot NOT surf porn sites, or stop watching. You are no longer in control of your life.
Step Two-Admit only God can get you out of this
You know, after trying using so many different ways to control your addiction and subsequently failing, that only Allah can help you out of this. You may have known it before, but you are convinced of it now without a shadow of a doubt.
Step Three-Your life and death are all in Allah's control
You have decided to put your complete trust in Allah, who is in control of all aspects of your life and your death. You have chosen to seek His Help first and foremost.
Step Four-You have completed a self-analysis
You have done an honest, sincere, but often painful self-evaluation of your good points and bad points, analyzed your addiction, and tried to understand how you reached this point.
Step Five-Made a specific repentance to Allah
You have admitted to Allah, to yourself, and to another trusted Muslim (if possible) exactly where you went wrong. You did not make a general request for repentance. You specifically listed your mistakes, and in particular, your addiction to pornography.
Step Six-You were open and ready to receive Allah's help to change
You know that your Tawbah (repentence to God) and being sincere, must be followed by action. You are ready to do what is necessary to change, no matter how difficult or painful. Even if it means not even watching television for the news or never surfing the internet alone.
Step Seven- You have asked for the removal of faults
You have asked Allah, with sincerity, humility and regret, to help you never repeat this action (i.e. looking at pornography) again and to help you avoid repeating sins committed in the past again.
Step Eight-You have decided to seek others' forgiveness
You have made a list of everyone you had hurt through your addiction, whether it was your spouse, children or parents, and made the intention to approach them seeking forgiveness. You must not, however, disclose your addiction since whatever Allah has kept hidden must remain hidden. You just seek forgiveness for any possible act of harm and hurt. Allah does not like a sin to be advertised.
Step Nine-Seek forgiveness of God
Seek the forgiveness and protection of Allah. Do sadaqah (charity) and fast as kaffarah if possible.
Step Ten-You have completed nightly self-evaluations
You continually, every night, have done an honest self-evaluation of your behavior, and were ready to admit your mistakes and thank Allah for the good you did that day.
Step Eleven-You have prayed for greater God-consciousness
You prayed and continue to pray five times a day, seeking closeness to Allah, and a consciousness of Him (Taqwa) wherever you are. You increase your reliance on Him to help you with this addiction to pornography and with all other matters in your life.
Step Twelve-You preached and practiced
You have not just "moved on" after Allah blessed you to get out of this addiction. You helped others you knew with this problem with regular contact and sincere advice. By the grace of Allah, helping others helped you maintain control over your addiction and you helped another person get out of this destruction and misery.
Comments
Great website. I'm currently on a mission to quit this disgusting habit which i was unfortunately exposed to at around 11 years old. We had a house on rent, the people had moved out, and as we was clearing out the house, i came across some post, the envelope had a car on it, and with me being so interested in cars i opened up the envelope. Inside was a porn mag and since then i've been regularly masturbating to porn. Its difficult because within an Islamic household, it is rightly a taboo topic. But taboo generally leads towards more curiosity especially when we are so young. I really want to quit this habit, just as the post below talks about the way in which porn oppresses and manipulates women. I no longer want to do this. Allah created man and woman as equals, we should never participate in acts which lead to destruction within our society. I've found that being consciously aware of your urges to look at porn helps. The next time you feel like looking at porn, tell yourself that this is a Trigger moment, and then actively take steps to do something more constructive. It ends up becoming a game if you like, you can have fun with it in terms of knowing that if you can avoid the seduction of porn, which is basically everywhere, you are a strong person. Give it a try. May Allah guide us all to the right path.
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O Allah help me and my brothers and sisters from this filthy addiction! Don't give up, soon Allah's help will come.Without His help we nothing.
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aite i just wanna give u guys a heads upafter i pass my examhopefully before i get married, I'm going to stop watching porn.
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Salam'alaykum. This site is very helpful and provides good advice and support for all of us who have been struggling with this awful addiction. I started to view magazines, videos and much later internet sites as a teenager before I became Muslim in the times of ignorance. Sadly, I wasn't able to break the cycle even after marriage and it is in part, I believe, one of the reasons for the marriage ending in divorce. Lately, I have been making a concerted effort to try and break this cycle, but having stopped for a few weeks or months, I always have ended up back there again. Insha'allah, it will be the end this time. We have to remember that the women and men in these pictures or films may have been forced or tricked into participating in these degrading acts. It leads to the destruction of their lives and we as members of the audience are actively taking part in their humiliation and their oppression. Each and every woman is either a daughter or a mother. We should remember this and the damage we our doing to the lives of others and to ourselves whenever we think about doing this. Keeping these thoughts in my mind as much as possible is what I believe with the help of Allah (swt) is finally helping me to break the pattern. I don't want to harm women or oppress them and know it is a huge sin and this is why I must stop before it is too late. I pray that we all strive hard to break free from this terrible habit.
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Pornography is an addiction and there is a very easy cure for it :-----> Whenever shaitan tries to build a lust , just close your eyes where ever u r and image that you have killed him with your hands....-----> Just imagine that there are two angels at your shoulders..They are writing your good and bad deeds....And moreover Allah who has created them also watching you every time...-----> If naoozobillah the lust is at extreme and step#2 and step#1 fails, then , punish yourself like pshups etc...and at that time realize that punishment of Hell will be more destructive...-----> You know that you will feel shame and sorry after masturbation or seeing pornography, then , think before doing : " What I am going to do ?"-----> Build your own progress report and tick before sleep that you have not watched pornography or did masturbation...even one cross will ruin your life-----> Don't give that evil thinking way into your mind at any point .."Nip the evil in the bud" otherwise you will be nipped and it will become useless to cry over spilt milk...-----> Just imagine that you will be dead and worthless if you watch porn and masturbate...Even a single time watch will lose your all previous progress...-----> Always be alert and concious and don't feel lazy anytime...remember : Laziness is the key to lust and lust is the evil of all evils.....-----> Busying yourself with other activities is not cure...The cure is hidden in your mind ...Only you have to strong your brain and control over emotions...When u will learn to control your emotions and build your brain strong , u will be doing Jihaad bn Nafs....These are my own created tips and in this way I got rid of that bad stuff...Good Luck with these tips....!!
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i started since grade 5. I am now grade 8 and i did'ent masterbate but i did look at alot of pornogrophy. Mu father thought that i started really early and thought that someone raped me. I felt so ashamed as my dad said your a dirty pig even though he loves me. he trusted that i will be good when he travled to another country. That was a mistake as i started looking at pornogrophy and doing sins at night. I can't tell my dad that i betrayed him for the 14th time when he comes back. please reply
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Practical advice for practical change: 1. have a dua on the top of your computer: allahuma innee aoothubika minal kubthi wal kabaaith - (God i seek protection from both clean and unclean spirits). Have the habit of making this dua before logging onto your computer every time. (just like when you enter the bathroom) - become habitual in this practice and you will find protection. Remember the saying, "guard your thoughts for they become your words (spoken or typed), guard your words as they become your actions, guard your actions as they become your habits, guard your habits as they dictate your character, guard your character as it will become your destiny."Next, do not keep a computer/ iphone/ or other electronic device that can access haram in places of privacy... i.e. bathrooms/ bedrooms/ etc.Remember what we do in private we assuredly would avoid in public.Next, make a commitment to yourself.. each time that you fall away from the path ... in terms of looking at something inappropriate on line.... make the vow that you will do something ... i.e. fast the next day.interestingly when muslims are fasting they will seldom break fast for something like looking at inappropriate matter on line.Next, realize that this is a problem faced by many people.. including myself.. dont feel alone.. you are in a struggle that is being faced by everyone who has an XandY chromosome.Remember the life of good character is worth more than the satisfaction of the eyes..If you are not married... fast / fast /fast and keep busy with sports/ exercise/ and other halal pursuits/... spending time with muslim or christian friends/ etc. Don't be afraid to call for help.. ie. call a friend of the opposite sex.. don't discuss your particular problem as.. haram should remain hidden. Meet them for coffee ... tennis/ whatever distracts you from the haram.Talk to your spouse, and explain the importance of making regular time for intimate time. If your wife is overweight and it turns you off... talk to her honestly that it would make you happy for her to loose weight... start exercising together..Also, remember appetites are like cousins to one another.. appetite for food is similar for cigarettes, sex, etc... they all stimulate similar receptors in the brain.. if you have difficulty with one appetite then by controlling another one you may find greater ease in fighting an addiction.Bottomline, put up a wall of habits that will eliminate the problem.. i.e. dua's when you go on line, keeping the computer out of private areas, exercise, appetite control (1/3,1/3,1/3) on a regular basis.. then make dua for the others out there who suffer this same ailment.. remember that we can fight and beat this problem..Transparency to your own heart is the key..
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Salam alikom brothers, I really love my deen (islam) and i love allah (swt) and the messengers and i belive in everything in the quraan and i belive in all the (hadith, Sunnah) I love reading about islam and the quraan. But there's one thing that i can not control, im so tierd of the filthy sin. And i live in Sweden where there's very much haram everywhere. Sometimes i even think that Allah (swt) wont forgive me. Cause i keep going back to this sin. i have been trying alote of stuff..like i said i keep going back to porn/masterbating. I have done this filthy sin in like 2 years and watching porn like 5month ago. So i need some help badly.
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Assalamu aleikum dear brothers. I cried like a little kid when seeing this website. Finally I have found help from other muslims and from an Islamic perspective. I think every addict has his or own story to tell, and I think that it is also very important to go back in ones life to see why one has become an addict. Many times one tries to fight the evil and whispers of shaitan but all to often has failed. The pain of failing and shame goes deep into ones soul and person. It leads to dispair. In my own case I have for the most of my life felt alone. I never experienced to have a father in my life, my mother had to work the most of the day and the result was that most of the day I had no parent around to show me the amount of love and securety that a child needs from its parents. Many times I have experienced people leaving my life one or the other way. So when I look back, I think that this empty hole that the lack of love and securety creates is something that alkohol, drugs and even porn fills out very well. And that I think is what has happend to me and to many others. So when one realizes what causes the addiction, one can better - with the help of the Almighty - cure it. "Allah is the best of helpers" is what we muslims have been guided to know, and by Allah this is true. So when one starts to fill out the emptiness that one feels so deep in ones soul with Allah (swt) instead of drugs og in our case porn, one is on the right path. Some methods to fill ones life with Allah is what those 12 steps teatches us. It is also important to remember that Allah loves his slaves beyond what we can ever emagine! On the day to day basis it is also important to avoid everything that leads to watching porn and masturbation. Dont go on the internet unless you know that somebody is able to see what websites you are visiting. Try very hard to avoid fantasies about sex. If a woman is coming down the street towards you, then change sidewalk. Try to stay out of places where theres a lot of people, and were there are many women - especially during summertime. Try every day to avoid everything that potentially and actually leads you closer into the arms of porn. Fill your life with Allah (swt). And talk to others with the same kind of addiction! - like we do it here on this site, and you will know that you are not alone in this. May Allah bless those who have put up this website, and all of those who share their pain and experience and advice. I will make dua' for all of you. Please make dua' for me to.
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I felt the advice given was sound. However I didn't feel it went far enough. Addiction of this sort really grinds you down, leaving you in such a piteous state so as to wonder if your imaan hasn't been blotted out for good with sin after repeated sin. I'm struggling with my self. The guilt and the shame after having succumbed to inner whisperings is enought to make me want to do something, make a drastic change, but the guilt also leads to self recrimination, blaming yourself, and eventually an apathetic acceptance that you're evil, beyond repair. This feeling which is possibly ubiquitous amongst addicts needs to be tied in with the initial steps. It's true, there is NO Power Except with Allah, and doesn't fighting addiction really hammer that truth home. I hope inshallah i can stave off the desire, with Allah's help.
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