Is It Haram to Look at Something and Be Unintentionally Aroused?

Answered by Ustadha Shazia Ahmad

Question

You have stated before that looking at any object with desire is haram, even if it is a stone. Is it the same if one looks at an object and gets an (unintentional) sexual urge?

Answer

Thank you for your question. May Allah reward you for your patience and facilitate marriage for you in the right way and time.

Urges

The prohibition is that deriving pleasure from anything beyond your wife (or concubine) is haram. But if one has looked at something and felt aroused unintentionally, this would not be sinful. The key is not to glance a second time and especially not to derive pleasure from that regularly. One should walk away, ignore the fleeting feeling, remember Allah, be careful to avoid such objects in the future, and certainly not seek them out intentionally.

Please see more details here:
Lust Towards One’s Grandmother
Basic Fiqh of Looking at the Opposite Sex
Reading Erotica and Arousing Animations

May Allah give you the best of this world and the next.
[Ustadha] Shazia Ahmad
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadha Shazia Ahmad lived in Damascus, Syria for two years where she studied aqidah, fiqh, tajweed, tafsir, and Arabic. She then attended the University of Texas at Austin, where she completed her Masters in Arabic. Afterward, she moved to Amman, Jordan where she studied fiqh, Arabic, and other sciences. She later moved back to Mississauga, Canada, where she lives with her family.