The content of this article has been adapted from the Porn Addiction YouTube Series by Raja Zia ul Haq.

Introduction

Pornography addiction has become a major issue globally, especially among the youth. Although many people do not like to admit it, pornography has spread in the very fabric of Muslim societies and weakened some of their fundamental values.

Pornography, also known as porn, is the depiction of erotic behavior intended to cause sexual excitement, according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary. While it can take the form of words or images, it is most commonly viewed today in the form of online videos. Watching porn becomes an addiction when one is unable to refrain from it despite wanting to.

The porn industry has become a multi-billion-dollar industry worldwide. According to a recent study, the global porn industry is worth USD 76.17 billion in 2024, poised to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.56% to reach USD 118.14 billion by 2030. It is absolutely huge! So, you can imagine what sort of money is being pumped into it. There are millions of porn websites globally, tempting people to fulfil their desires in this negative manner.

In this series of articles, we discuss the causes of porn addiction, its effects, and numerous ways to overcome this addiction in the contemporary digital age.

Causes of Porn Addiction

Pornography addiction is extremely dangerous – in fact, more so than drug addiction! One might argue that if someone is addicted to a harmful drug, that is surely a worse scenario. However, there are several reasons why it can be argued that becoming addicted to porn is more dangerous than illegal drugs. These reasons, discussed below, also explain why so many people become addicted to porn in the first place.

1) Ease of Access

In order to obtain drugs, one has to make a lot of effort. He has to know the right person to secretively supply him the drug, avoiding certain people in the process, such as law enforcement agencies. On the other hand, someone addicted to porn simply has to use his mobile phone or personal computer to achieve this purpose. Moreover, porn can be easily accessed by everyone with an internet connection, regardless of age, connections, or background.

2) Affordability

The person addicted to drugs has to spend money – often huge amounts. We typically come across cases where someone was initially introduced to drugs free of cost; then he was charged a nominal amount for it; and once he became addicted to it, the price was exorbitantly increased! In contrast, much of the pornographic content is freely available on the internet. Hence, it is no wonder why so many people become addicted to something as dangerous as this.

3) Perceived Anonymity

The person visiting a porn website thinks he is anonymous on the internet. This encourages the person to freely indulge in watching porn without being accountable to anyone. However, there are two things to remember in this regard.

First, no matter how anonymous you think you are, there is somebody who knows what you are doing. That is because each device has a unique IP address which is always visible to the websites the user visits, and can easily be traced. So, if someone really wants to find out, they can easily dig up your data and online activities. Imagine having attained a prominent position in life, only for your porn browsing history to suddenly pop up. How severely would that damage your repute?

Second, even if you do somehow manage to remain anonymous before people, can you ever conceal your activities from Allah? Can you hide your deeds from the kiraman katibeen – the two angels on either side of you – recording all your deeds? You may adopt any alias when online, but Allah is always aware of your real identity and activities.

4) Lack of Detection

Pornography is also known as the “secret sin” because one can indulge in it for a very long time without anyone close to him knowing about it. So, this addiction often goes undetected until a lot of damage has been caused. You are often able to identify a drug addict by merely looking at his face, but the same is not true for a porn addict. It could be that a colleague or classmate of yours is addicted to porn, but you might not know about their addiction and how it is adversely affecting their life.

This article is an extract from the e-book “Breaking the Chains: An Islamic Guide to Overcoming Porn Addiction”. Click on the image below to download this e-book for free!