Porn greater or Drinking wine greater

Answer

Wa’alaykum as Salam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu,

Every sin is serious and detrimental, and is a means of distancing from Allah. After showering us with so many favours and bounties, it does not behove us to break any commandment of Allah. Bilal bin Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him) said,

لا تنظر إلى صغر الخطيئة ولكن انظر من عصيت  (شعب الإيمان – (1/ 269)

“Don’t look at the insignificance of the sin, but look at the greatness of the one who you are disobeying.” (Shu’ab al-Iman, 1/269)

Furthermore, a seemingly ‘small’ sin can be magnified due to other reasons. For example, treating a sin as trivial or inconsequential is enough to intensify that sin to such an extent that it can become more destructive than even relatively greater sins.

It is precisely for this reason that Sahabah were extremely cautious not to disobey Allah. Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said,

إنكم لتعملون أعمالا هي أدق في أعينكم من الشعر إن كنا لنعدها على عهد النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم من الموبقات قال أبو عبد الله يعني بذلك المهلكات (أخرجه البخاري في صحيحه –  (8/ 103)

“You perpetrate certain sins and regard those sins to be more insignificant than a straw. But, at the time of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) we used to count those sins among those things that can destroy a man.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, 8 / 103)

Similarly, ‘Abdullah bin Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said,

عبد الله بن مسعود حديثين أحدهما عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم والآخر عن نفسه قال إن المؤمن يرى ذنوبه كأنه قاعد تحت جبل يخاف أن يقع عليه وإن الفاجر يرى ذنوبه كذباب مر على أنفه فقال به هكذا قال أبو شهاب بيده فوق أنفه (أخرجه البخاري في صحيحه – (8/ 67)

 “A believer treats a sin as if it is a mountain over his head that may fall on him any moment. Whereas a regular violator looks at them as a fly that perked on his nose and he waived it away with his hand.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, 8 / 67)

By undermining any sin, a person will tend to commit that sin more frequently. Thus, the prophet (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) said,

عن عبد الله بن مسعود أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال إياكم ومحقرات الذنوب فإنهن يجتمعن على الرجل حتى يهلكنه (أخرجه أحمد في مسنده – (6/ 367)

“Beware of undermining sins. Verily, they gather upon a man until they destroy him.” (Musnad Ahmad, 6/367)

In short, every sin is damaging and a rebellion in its own right, and the conscientious Muslim must strive to avoid it at all cost. The devil makes us trivialize sins so that we do not repent to Allah.

Whilst watching porn is relatively lower than drinking wine, it is still a major sin (Gunah e Kabeerah). Looking at such indecent acts blackens a person’s heart.  In a Hadith, this has been termed as “Adultery of the eye”. Moreover, it can lead to marital problems, as watching such movies could result in one not being satisfied with one’s spouse. Besides all the medical and psychological harms of porn, it is a means of incurring the wrath of Allah. Hence, it should be avoided at all costs.