Is looking one of the minor sins, and if so, does persisting in a minor sin turn it into a major one, and what is the evidence for that?

The questioner :
Is looking one of the minor sins, and are we to overlook such minor lapses? And if so, does persisting in a minor sin turn it into a major one, and what is the evidence for that?

The Shaykh :
Yes, looking is one of the minor sins and one of the minor lapses. The hadith we have mentioned more than once is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him):
"It is decreed for the son of Adam his share of fornication, and he will inevitably reach it. The eye commits fornication, and its fornication is looking, and so on..."
This is the hadith, and at its end he (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "And the private parts either confirm all of this or deny it." So this hadith indicates that
these preliminaries are among the minor sins, not the major ones. And by that, he did not exclude anyone from these preliminaries, but rather
he ruled that a human being, by virtue of being a human, is created and inclined toward desire, and it is inevitable that he will be afflicted with some of
these preliminaries. It is decreed for the son of Adam his share of fornication. But the greater fornication, which is fornication of the private parts, is
decreed for all people, because this is among the forbidden things and the major sins. And there are also many hadiths that point
to the fact that these means, such as looking, listening, touching, and the like, are not among the major sins. Therefore,
there is the hadith of that man who set out to pray, looked at a woman on the road, and his head struck the wall while
he was looking at her. Then he mentioned to the Messenger (may Allah's prayer and peace be upon him) after the prayer what he had done. He asked, "Did you pray with us?" He said,
"Yes." So Allah the Exalted and Majestic revealed, "Good deeds remove bad deeds," and other texts which I do not recall
at this moment. So looking and the like are among the minor sins, not the major ones. As for persisting in a minor sin making it
a major one, this is a matter that is mentioned and cited in some texts and hadiths, but there is no authentic hadith
that we can make an argument for this claim. So we do not say that persisting in a minor sin causes this
minor sin to transform, because we cannot say this. But from a psychological standpoint, it is possible that persisting in a
minor sin leads to a major one. This is in the category of linking means to ends, and this is possible... As for a person who continues
his whole life looking, listening, and so on... but he strives against himself and prevents himself from falling into the greater crime, and he dies
while committing a major sin, there is no text for this, as we said. And Allah knows best.