Repentance about pornography
Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's
Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)
One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:
beloved brother salam aleikum
please help me dear brother I am a 16 yr old boy and unfortunately
have fallen prey to this dirty habit. May Allah forgive me I also got indulged
in pornography but now I am recovering from that by Allah`s grace. But the
problem is I have considerable religious knowledge, I read the Qur`an every
day(only 2-3pages;with translation), I pray in the mosque and have read too
many books to be such a dirty person. Again and again I repent from this evil
thing, and then I feel like I`ll never ever go back to it but some day comes
2-3 weeks later when I am overwhelmed by desire and I yield to it. Maybe its
because of my dirty past, even though people think I am so religious. I think I
may be the dirtiest person you may have talked to because others are not
involved in islam and extreme evils at the same time, but I don`t know why I am
such a dirty hypocrite. I ammyself amazed at how dirty and two-faced I am,
please criticize me or advise me or do anything you think will help me stop.
All other people who have knowledge are so good and fear Allah and even sinners
repent and never do anything again. What is wrong with me? I have left talking
to girls for Allah`s sake, I did few other things but why is my heart so dirty?
Help me sometimes I get overwhelmed by desire. But I haven`t fasted nafil fasts
for this purpose could that be the reason? Now I am so scared that next time
the same thing will happen, before that please help me. I dont even pray
tahajjud nor witr. Please remove the notion from my head that the dirty thing
is allowed if the alternative is watching wrong things. I read in Yusuf
Qardawi`s book `al-halal wal haram fil islam` that to cope with external
temptation it is allowed but if i fall prey to it i feel so guilty and then i
feel it is absolutely wrong. Plz i have to go out to study in a yr and I am so
scared of what I`ll do alone while I am so bad in
salam aleikum
(brother plz dont disclose my identity)
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Answer:
Repentant
about pornography
In the
name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness.
Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray,
none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no
person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah
Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the
seal of His Messengers.
Dear and
Beloved Brother in Islam, it is evident from your letter that you indeed fear
Allah Subhanah and His Accounting on the Last Day, and are genuinely seeking to
amend your conduct. May Allah
Subhanah increase your belief and trust in Him and His Mercy, and bestow upon
you wisdom and courage to combat the whisperings of the avowed enemy of mankind,
the Shaytaan.
Regardless
of what one might have done in the past, never ever should a believer despair
of the Boundless and Infinite Mercy of the Merciful Lord; for our Lord is
indeed Merciful and Oft-Forgiving towards His believing slaves.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 39 Surah Zumur verses 53-54: (O
Prophet) say: “O My servants who have wronged their own souls….Do
not despair of Allah’s Mercy! Surely, Allah forgives all
sins. He indeed is the All
Forgiving, All Merciful. Return to your Lord and submit to
Him before the scourge overtakes you; for then you may get no help from anywhere.”
If one
has committed a base sin, and has sincerely turned towards his Lord Most
Merciful and sought sincere forgiveness; and subsequently his emotions get the
better of him and he falls in the same trap of sin, he should again seek the
forgiveness of Allah Subhanah. It
is expected that one will find their Lord Most Merciful, Oft-Forgiving.
Hadith Qudsi 34
The Messnger of Allah (saws) said that Allah, High and Exalted is
He, says: ‘O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and ask of Me, I
shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O son of Adam, were your sins to reach
the clouds of the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I would
forgive you. O son of Adam, were
you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and were you then to
face Me, ascribing no partner to Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as
great at it.’
Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 2338 Narrated
by Abdullah ibn Umar
Allah's Messenger (saws) said, "Allah accepts a servant's
repentance till he gives up his spirit in death."
Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 8.321 Narrated
by Anas bin Malik
Allah's Messenger (saws) said, "Allah is more pleased with
the repentance of His slave than anyone of you is pleased with finding his
camel which he had lost in the desert!"
Dear and
Beloved Brother, thus regardless of what you might have done in the past, never
ever despair of the Infinite Mercy of the Lord Most Merciful. Our Lord is He Who knows the condition
of each of His believing slaves; thus if you were sincere in seeking repentance
at the commission of a sin, and subsequently your emotions got the better of
you and the Shaytaan inspired your soul to commit the same sin again: seek
repentance again, and again, and again, and again! My dear and beloved brother in
Islam, whatever you do, never ever despair of His Infinite Mercy!
The Messenger of Allah (saws) said in an authentic narration:
‘All of you are sinners, and the best (or most loved) of the sinners in
the sight of Allah is one who is constant in seeking repentance!’
But what
one should definitely beware of is to fool or amuse oneself with this limitless
Mercy and Grace of Allah Subhanah; and intentionally plan to do evil deeds with
the intention to seek repentance after the sin! The All-Knowing Lord is He Who knows
even the inner most secrets of our hearts!
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah Nisaa verses 17-18:
17 Allah accepts the repentance of those who do evil in ignorance and
repent soon afterwards; to them will Allah turn in Mercy; for Allah is full of
Knowledge and Wisdom.
18 Of no effect is the repentance of those who continue to do evil
until death faces one of them and he says "Now have I repented
indeed"; nor of those who die rejecting faith: for them have We prepared a
punishment most grievous.
Thus my
dear and beloved brother in Islam, regardless of how many times you find
yourself succumbing to the whisperings of your avowed enemy, the Shaytaan; and
regardless of how many times your emotions get the better of you, and you find
yourself helpless in the face of sin….be constant in your faith in your
Lord’s Mercy, and be constant in sincerely seeking forgiveness from your
Lord, Most Merciful. It is expected
that you find your Lord Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
It is
indeed unfortunate that we live in a society and an age where one is constantly
bombarded by an environment of sin and evil; and no matter how hard one tries,
he is always in the face of non-mehram, semi-clad women….in the streets,
in the malls, in schools and colleges, in the media, in the books and
magazines, on bill-boards, on television, on the internet….everywhere one
looks, one is faced with this severe trial! In these trying times, it surely seems
that Shaytaan has opened the flood-gates of indecency and
‘fahisha’; and it seems that none can save himself from the enticement
of the Shaytaan, except those fortunate few who are steadfast and constant in
the Path of their Lord.
Thus my
beloved brother, the way to combat these trials is fear Allah as much as you
can, and remain constant in the remembrance of the Lord, seeking His Help, His
Mercy, and His Guidance! It is
imperative that one seeks and stays in the company of righteous and pious
God-fearing brothers who spend their time doing good deeds. One other thing you might try is to keep
yourself extremely busy, even if it be the point of exhaution, in good wholesome deeds like seeking
knowledge, sports, and serving others by joining some good social service
groups who help the unfortunate, the elderly, the physically challenged, or
impoverished children, etc. And try
as much as you can never to be alone or in solitude; for then Shaytaan gets an
opportunity and incites the helpless soul towards his designs of evil!
Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 184 Narrated
by Mu'adh ibn Jabal
Allah's Messenger (saws) said: ‘Verily the Shaytaan is the
enemy of a man just as the wolf is (the enemy) of a flock. He seizes the
solitary sheep going astray from the flock or going aside from the flock. So avoid the branching paths; it is
essential for you to remain along with the (righteous) community.’
Dear and
Beloved Brother in Islam, whatever you do, fear Allah and be constant is
seeking help and guidance from the Lord Most Merciful from the evil designs of
your and our avowed enemy, the Shaytaan, whose one and only mission of
existence is to inspire man to disobey Allah and transgress His Bounds. Thus constantly seek help and guidance
from Allah Subhanah, and anytime the Shaytaan inspires and incites your heart
towards the transgression of Allah, immediately turn towards Allah Subhanah and
seek His Refuge from the whisperings of this avowed enemy of mankind and his
evil designs. It is expected that
Allah Subhanah will save you and guide you to the Straight Path.
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 41 Surah Haa Meem verse 36: And if (at any time) an incitement to discord is made to thee by the
Shaytaan, seek refuge in Allah. He
is the One Who Hears and Knows all things.
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 7 Surah Aaraaf verses 200-201:
200 If a suggestion from Shaytaan assail thy (mind) seek refuge with Allah;
for He Heas and Knows (all things).
201 Those who fear Allah, when a thought of evil from the Shaytaan
assaults them, bring Allah to remembrance and, lo! They see (aright)!
May Allah
Subhanah have Mercy upon you and us and all the believers, and save us all from
the evil inspirations of our avowed enemy, the Shaytaan. Ameen.
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 35 Surah Fatir verses 5-7:
5 O mankind! Certainly the
promise of Allah is true. Let not
then this present life deceive you, nor let the Shaytaan deceive you about
Allah.
6 Verily Shaytaan is an enemy to you: so treat him as an enemy. He only invites his adherents that they
may become Companions of the Blazing Fire.
7 For those who reject Allah is a terrible Penalty: but for those who believe
and work righteous deeds is Forgiveness, and a Magnificent Reward.
Whatever
written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and
Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.
Your Brother in Islam,
Burhan
Wister