THE SIDE EFFECT OF PORNOGRAPHY ON THE SPIRITUAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, FAMILIAR AND SOCIAL OF ONESELF

Based on Malamuth (1993), pornography literally means the “writing of harlots” or

“depictions of acts of prostitues.” It’s closely related to materials intended to arouse sexual

feelings that may include sexist or violet elements. As we know, Islam opposes the act of

watching or being involved in pornography. Pornography is agreed by all scholars to be

included in the term Fusha (Mujahid, 2019) which means anything shameful. Not just in

Islam, people of all faith do not favor pornography. It is not a norm that is accepted to be

publicly projected in the mainstream media, even in America. It is also seen as immoral,

due to that, let’s discuss the reasons or side effects that pornography brings. 

Side Effect on One’s Spiritual Self

As a Muslim, pornography could be a risk to one’s faith. The most obvious reason is, when

one does an act that is prohibited by Allah, the further away one is from the right path. A little

act might not look harmful but when being done again and again, it could affect our spiritual

relationship with God Almighty. "Say to them (O Muhammad!)? Do not even draw near to

things shameful–be they open or secret;? " (Quran 6:151 partial). Allah has warned us to

avoid sins in public or in private as He knows we are weak and we shall abide to His rulings

to protect our spiritual connection with Him.

Psychological Side Effect

Pornography is known to be addictive. This addiction takes on very slowly and can lead to

sexually compulsive behaviors. Due to the abnormality of pornographic content, men who

often watch pornography have a higher tolerance for abnormal sexual behaviors, sexual

aggression, promiscuity, and even rape. This leads to them viewing women as sex objects. In

addition, addictive pornography use leads to lower self-esteem. Some people who watch

pornography fail to see that pornography is staged and is not real, making them believe that it

is part of reality and having a distorded perception of the real world.

Familiar Side Effect

Due to obsession with pornography content, most people who watch pornography would be

more likely to lose interest in their spouses. They may feel sexually less satisfied and

emotional disattached to their partner which leads to divorce. Due to the psychological effect

of being more tolerant on abnormal sexual behaviors, secual aggression, promiscuity and even

rape, men see women as sex objects which could lead to terrible cases of incest. This could

contribute to the distortion of  children’s sexual development.

Social Side Effect

Pornography can eventually influence one’s perception or expectations towards sex. This

could lead to pre-marital sex and baby dumping cases. These pornography content which

includes incest, pre-marital sex and more promotes unsafe sexual health practices such us not

wearing condoms and trying dangerous and unrealistic sex which can dangerously influence

the viewers. Pornography also build and uses gender stereotypes, particularly for males. Men

who watched pornography frequently are likely to view women as sex objects and have sexist

attitudes toward them. Pornography strengthen attitudes of sexual violence especially towards women. 

Conclusion

With all these side effects, it’s best to avoid watching or getting involved in pornography.

When something is prohibited in Islam, there are always strong reasons to support the

prohibition. Knowing well enough that pornography brings only harm to us, it is important for

us to practice amar makruf nahi mungkar, and to look after our own family members and

friends to not do such acts as well.

References

Mujahid, A. M., Samra, Azeez, M. A., Farukh, M., Habib Tj, R.-eez, Konsimbo, M., … Muneer, S. (2019, November 1). Islam on pornography: A definite NO NO. Retrieved from https://www.soundvision.com/article/islam-on-pornography-a-definite-no-no.