Habits & Addictions | Episode 03 | Addictions ⚠️ | Sheikh Wael Ibrahim
Summary
TLDRIn this episode of 'Habits and Addiction,' the speaker addresses the misconception that addiction is limited to substances like cocaine or heroin. Instead, he highlights behavioral addictions, such as pornography and gaming, which have been shown to cause similar brain damage as hard drugs. Studies from Cambridge University and replicated in Indonesia reveal the negative impact on the prefrontal cortex, leading to memory and concentration issues. The speaker emphasizes the importance of attachment to the Quran and Prophet's teachings over harmful addictions, and discusses the serious consequences of such behaviors on relationships and mental health. He calls for awareness and strategies to combat these modern forms of addiction.
Takeaways
- 🚫 The term 'addiction' should be replaced with 'attachment' when referring to positive influences like the Quran, as addiction implies a negative behavior or substance.
- 🧠 Neuroscience indicates that the word 'addiction' has a distinct impact on the brain, suggesting the importance of language in shaping our understanding of behaviors.
- 🔬 Studies from Cambridge University and replicated in Indonesia show that addiction to behaviors like pornography can cause similar brain damage as drug addiction, specifically to the prefrontal cortex.
- 📉 This damage leads to issues such as lack of memory retention, focus, and concentration, which can severely impact one's academic and personal life.
- ❌ The World Health Organization has classified gaming as a brain disease, highlighting the serious implications of behavioral addictions.
- 🧘♂️ The primary objective of religion, as per the speaker, is to protect the mind and brain, which differentiate us from other creations.
- 🔞 The harmful effects of looking at prohibited content (Haram) are emphasized, as these images can become ingrained in the brain, leading to lasting negative effects.
- 💔 Behavioral addictions like gaming and pornography can destroy relationships and lead to issues such as porn-induced erectile dysfunction, affecting sexual relationships in marriage.
- 📉 The average age of individuals becoming addicted to pornography is alarmingly low, indicating a need for awareness and preventative measures.
- 👨👧👦 The speaker calls for vigilance in protecting children from exposure to inappropriate content, as it can have lifelong consequences.
- 🌐 The internet and digital platforms make it increasingly difficult to shield children from harmful content, necessitating proactive measures to safeguard them.
Q & A
What is the speaker's perspective on using the term 'addiction' in relation to positive actions or substances?
-The speaker suggests that the term 'addiction' should not be used for positive actions or substances like the Quran, as it implies a negative connotation. Instead, the word 'attachment' should be used for positive things that are beneficial.
How does the speaker describe the impact of using the word 'addiction' on our brains?
-The speaker mentions that even the language we use, such as 'addiction', can have an impact on our brains, as stated by Believe It or Not Neuroscience. The word 'addiction' can evoke a different response compared to 'attachment'.
What is the main purpose of the religion according to the speaker?
-The speaker explains that one of the main purposes of the religion is to protect our minds and brains, which differentiate us from other creations, and to prevent us from engaging in harmful behaviors that can damage them.
What did the Cambridge University study find about the brains of people addicted to pornography?
-The Cambridge University study found that the brains of people addicted to hardcore pornography resemble those addicted to cocaine, with the same damage and shrinkage of the prefrontal cortex.
What was the replication of the Cambridge study conducted in Indonesia focused on?
-The replication of the Cambridge study in Indonesia focused on 30 children aged eight to fifteen, and it found the same shrinkage of the prefrontal cortex leading to memory and concentration issues.
What is the World Health Organization's classification of gaming?
-The World Health Organization has classified gaming as a brain disease, indicating that it can have serious impacts on mental health.
What is the connection between addiction to pornography and relationship problems?
-The speaker explains that addiction to pornography can lead to 'porn-induced erectile dysfunction', which can cause sexual dysfunction in a marital relationship, leading to frustration, lack of confidence, and potentially infidelity and divorce.
How does the speaker describe the impact of behavioral addictions on children?
-The speaker warns that children as young as seven or eight years old can become addicted to pornography, which can have lifelong consequences and impact future generations.
What is the average age of people who are addicted to pornography according to the speaker?
-The speaker states that the average age of people addicted to pornography is as young as seven or eight years old.
What is the significance of the speaker's mention of Ramadan in the context of discipline and resisting temptation?
-The speaker uses Ramadan as an example of how Islam trains believers to develop discipline and resist temptations, even those that are normally permissible (Halal), to strengthen their ability to resist harmful behaviors and addictions.
What is the speaker's advice for dealing with the issue of behavioral addictions?
-The speaker advises being vigilant and raising awareness about the dangers of behavioral addictions. He also emphasizes the importance of seeking help and finding strategies to overcome these addictions, which he promises to discuss in future episodes.
Outlines
🧠 Understanding Addiction vs. Attachment
The speaker emphasizes the importance of distinguishing between addiction and attachment, particularly in relation to religious texts like the Quran. Addiction is associated with negative behaviors or substances, whereas attachment is a positive connection to beneficial teachings. Neuroscience suggests that using the term 'addiction' can impact the brain differently. The speaker's aim is to guide listeners towards attachment to Allah's revelations and away from behaviors that could harm their spiritual and mental well-being. The discussion also touches on behavioral addictions and how they can be as damaging as substance abuse, citing studies from Cambridge University and Indonesia that show similar brain damage in individuals addicted to pornography and those addicted to drugs like cocaine.
🚫 The Consequences of Behavioral Addictions
This paragraph delves into the destructive impact of behavioral addictions such as gaming, social media, and pornography. The speaker discusses the damage to relationships and the psychological effects, including porn-induced erectile dysfunction, which can lead to a lack of sexual intimacy in marriages. The societal implications are highlighted with statistics showing the alarming prevalence of pornography, even among children. The speaker calls for awareness and preventative measures to protect the younger generation from these vices, referencing the work of Christian author Christiane Jensen who wrote books to help parents guide their children away from inappropriate images.
🛡️ Combating Temptations and Developing Discipline
The final paragraph focuses on the importance of discipline and self-control in resisting temptations, drawing parallels with the practice of fasting during Ramadan. The speaker encourages believers to develop habits that can help overcome addictive behaviors, using the example of the Prophet Muhammad's teachings on self-restraint. The goal is to meet Allah with a pure and sound heart, free from the negative influences of addictions. The speaker expresses hope for future discussions on strategies to overcome these behaviors, emphasizing the need for vigilance and the role of religious teachings in fostering a strong moral compass.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Addiction
💡Attachment
💡Neuroscience
💡Behavioral Addictions
💡Prefrontal Cortex
💡World Health Organization (WHO)
💡Pornography
💡Intimacy
💡Haram
💡Ramadan
Highlights
The term 'addiction' should be replaced with 'attachment' when referring to positive behaviors or substances like the Quran.
Neuroscience suggests that the word 'addiction' has a different impact on the brain compared to 'attachment'.
The goal is to foster attachment to Allah's revelations and teachings, steering clear of behaviors or substances detrimental to remembrance of Allah.
Behavioral addictions, such as to pornography or gaming, can cause brain damage similar to that of drug addictions.
A Cambridge University study found that brains of individuals addicted to pornography show the same damage as those addicted to cocaine.
An Indonesian study replicated Cambridge's findings, showing brain shrinkage in children as young as eight addicted to pornography.
Behavioral addictions can lead to memory issues, lack of focus, and concentration problems.
Gaming was classified as a brain disease by the World Health Organization.
The main objective of religion is to protect the mind and brain, which differentiate us from other creations.
Addiction to pornography can lead to irreversible mental images and flashbacks that are difficult to erase.
Behavioral addictions can destroy relationships and lead to issues such as porn-induced erectile dysfunction.
The average age of individuals addicted to pornography is decreasing, with some as young as 7 or 8 years old.
In 2019, a single pornographic website had 42 billion visits, indicating a widespread issue.
Christian author Christian Jenson wrote 'Good Pictures Bad Pictures' to help parents protect their children from inappropriate images.
The need for awareness and protective measures to prevent children from accessing harmful content is emphasized.
Discipline and moderation in consuming halal things are encouraged in Islam to prevent slipping into haram behaviors.
Ramadan is a period to train oneself to resist temptations and develop habits to fight against vices and addictions.
Future episodes will discuss strategies to overcome addictive behaviors and maintain a sound heart for meeting Allah.
Transcripts
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something very very important we need to
understand is that whenever we say I'm
addicted to something it means that it
is a negative action or negative
behavior or a negative substance we
can't say I'm addicted to the Quran why
is that so because the Quran is so
beneficial so the word the right word
that we should use whenever we say that
I'm addicted to the m or I'm addicted to
the Quran and so on is rather than
addiction is attachment Believe It or
Not Neuroscience is telling us that
whenever we use the word Addiction even
it has a different impact on our brain
even even just languaging it so may
Allah subhana T grant us the right
understanding what we wanted to do in
those episodes is to bring you to the
attachment of what Allah had revealed
the attachment to the words of Allah the
attachment of the m the attachment of
the Prophet s alam's teaching and take
you away from any addictive behavior or
substance that could ruin your
brain and take you farther away from the
remembrance of Allah
subhah once more my brothers and sisters
in Islam this is your brother IIM this
is episode three of habits and addiction
titled behavioral addictions now many of
times when I talk to people about
behavioral addictions they will ask the
following questions brother all what we
knew about addictions back then was that
it is associated with cocaine with
heroin with hard drugs How could an an a
behavior turn into addiction Believe It
or Not Cambridge
University have run a study back in the
days I think the Year 2005 or 2006
and they scann the brains of people who
confessed that they were addicted to
pornography hardcore pornography on the
internet and to their surprise they
found that actually the brains of those
who are addicted to pornog pornography
resemble those people who are addicted
to cocaine exactly the same damage in
the brain the shrinkage of the
prefrontal cortex can you imagine this
and this same study was replicated by an
Indonesian Ian lady that I met
personally and I actually traveled to
Indonesia to meet the medical team that
was looking after this study and they
replicated the same exact you know
formula of that study of Cambridge in
Indonesia on 30 kids now how did they
select those 30 kids it's a very long
boring process that whoever is
interested get in touch inshallah tal
and I will show you the entire study 15
CH children were addicted to pornography
when we say children here is the age of
eight all the way to 15 years old these
were the the age range and 15 were pure
alhamdulillah never had access to these
content and to their surprise they found
the same exact thing the shrinkage of
the prefrontal cortex leading to what
leading to memory lack of memory
retention can you imagine lack of focus
and concentration on the
studies and these these things are not
uh a theory anymore are not like ideas
anymore they are established studies and
not just Cambridge not just the
Indonesian team but now it's throughout
the arena of academic who have gone
through this study and and scanning the
brains of those who are addicted to
behaviors of that of that sort in fact
gaming was listed in the World Health
Organization as a brain bra
disease a brain disease can you imagine
Patrick ks in the 1980s one of the
elites of that subject of addiction
Behavior addiction he when they asked
him what is addiction he said it's a
brain disease it changes the entire
structure of your brain that which Allah
had given you pure the main purpose of
the religion the
main this is a subject that we studied
the objectives of sh why Allah sent down
the Quran why Allah subhana tala sent
prophets of
124,000 prophets and Messengers will
sent to mankind one of the objectives is
to protect your
mind to protect this brain the one thing
that makes us different than animals and
other creation and we ruin it by giving
our eyes that arrows the prophet said
that gaze is an arrow from the arrows of
Shan why is that so because when you
look at that which is Haram it is
captured in the brain for Life the
people that I'm counseling today who are
addicted to porography they always tell
me brother as soon as I say
Allah I see
porn may Allah protect them may Allah
protect us all the flashbacks cannot be
erased easily it takes days and months
and years sometimes to become well to
cope with those addictive behaviors so
don't take it lightly don't ever take it
lightly may Allah subhana tala grant us
the right
understanding so Behavior addictions
involves now compulsion not just you
know as simple as brushing your teeth
anymore this is something very
compulsive something that goes against
your will you don't want to do it and
you find yourself coming to it again and
again one of the things that we have
noticed as a result of Behavioral
addictions like uh being addicted to
gaming social media or worse of all
pornography is the destruction of
relationships we have so many wives in
particular who are complaining that
their husbands don't even attempt to
have any intimate relationship with them
anymore and when I start interviewing
the husbands I would find out that they
are addicted to pornography now what's
the connection when you give your eyes
and brain and hearts and Life to
something that is absolutely Haram
listen to this very carefully my
brothers and sisters in Islam Allah
takes the Halal away from you as a
result there is a condition known as
porn induced erectile dysfunction porn
induced erectile dysfunction people who
who are consumed by pornography for many
years they reach a point that the brain
conditioned them to attain this this
pleasure to attain sexual pleasure
through screens and pixels and pictures
and images and when they are with their
with the loved ones with their wives the
Halal ones they can't function
sexually and of course that lead to
frustration from both
sides lack of confidence lack of sexual
intimacy between Halal Partners which
leads to infidelity which leads to
divorce I could go on for forever my
brothers and sisters inam and this is
this is something that we we need to
take very very seriously I really admire
mu is M may Allah bless him who will
always push people who are talking about
this subject because he knew that unless
we fix those hidden
secretive activities that are committed
behind closed doors that not much people
talking about it unless we fix that how
can you create a generation that can
worship Allah subhana T properly how in
the world the average now the the the
the the average age of people who are
addicted to pornography is as young as 7
and 8 years
old 42 billion visits had occurred on a
single pornographic website in the year
2019
42 billion you do the mats we are 7
billion people on planet Earth look at
this we can't exclude Muslims right we
cannot exclude them so we need to really
find those platforms to raise awareness
otherwise your children my children may
fall prey to these Vice may Allah
subhana grant us the right understanding
even
non-muslims a person like Christian
Jenson for example who wrote a book
called good pictures bad pictures as
simple as that she is a
scholar of whatever field in
Christianity or whatever else but she
recognized the danger of pictures that
are inappropriate that can actually hook
their her children on something for life
that can destroy them for life that can
impact them for generations to come and
she wrote this book actually she wrote
two books under the same Title One to be
used for young kids and one for a little
bit senior children and in that
introduction in the introduction of her
book she said a Time Has Come where the
question whether my child will see
pornography or not doesn't exist anymore
because they will they will stumble
across these images whether you like it
or not unless we develop a
system that can protect our children
from accessing these images they will
find it whether it's on those social
media platforms or on Hardcore websites
or popup ads that are designed to
recognize kids using devices Subhan
Allah go and read the research they
recognize that the user of that device
is a kid they they will send those popup
ads that have or include hardcore
pornography and as a result they can
become addicted for life I have uh seen
someone in particular like one person in
particular who's been addicted to
pornography and other you know
undesirable sexual behaviors for 43
years I want you just to imagine there
are people I have a friend of mine who
passed away 42 at the age of 42 so it's
a lifetime of addiction ition a lifetime
of addiction and the reason why he he he
drowned into this until he divorced his
wife or his wife requested for a divorce
was that he didn't have the courage to
come out and say I have a problem and
the reason why I this is this my own
reading to the situation the reason why
he didn't have the courage to say so or
to come out and to reach out for help is
that unfortunately our M our our
Scholars are not giving that platform
are not are not calling people to
actually come and and or maybe they
themselves aren't aware of the harmful
impact of these
vices so let us be absolutely Vigilant
uh you know the prophet Muhammad
sallallahu alaihi wasallam told us that
the the strong believer is way better
and more beloved to Allah than the weak
one so we need we need to really uh
escalate the do of fighting those
Temptations even even when it comes to
the Hal look at look at how Islam is
beautiful Allah subhana is telling
us eat and
drink but do not go into excess so eat
that which is halal but don't go beyond
the limits don't keep just eating
because it's Halal and drink drink water
drink orange drink whatever Halal that
Allah had provided but don't go beyond
the
limits was walking one day and he saw
one of the companions carrying a piece
of meat on his shoulder he told him what
is this that you're carrying he
said I desired it I looked at it in the
shop and I I found it so nice and
delicious so I desired it he
said is it that every time you desire
something you go for it look at the the
level of discipline when it comes to the
Halal that's why we have Ramadan Ramadan
all of a sudden from dawn to Sunset
water becomes
Haram all of a sudden your your beloved
wife your beloved husband husband from
dawn to Sunset becomes Haram to touch
you know sexually all the food all the
drinks that Allah made Halal Allah said
from dawn to sunset during Ramadan it's
not allowed anymore why is that so to
discipline you because if you remained
firm 12 14 hours without water without
food which is halal how could you slip
in front of the Haram that easily
Ramadan was meant to train us to develop
those habits that can fight against you
know all these vices and all these
addictive behaviors may Allah protect us
all I hope and I pray that inshallah in
the next episode and the remaining ones
we will talk about strategies now to
help us overcome those addictive
behaviors inshallah so that we can meet
Allah subh that's the goal of these
episodes to meet Allah with pure and
sound
heart see you next
episode
[Music]
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