Nowadays many romantic novels are a form of erotic literature. Normally a person can easily avoid such texts while reading but sometimes the scenes are connected with the further part of the story. Also novels are all fictions and usually donot contain pictures.

So the question is, is it haram to read such literature, or should it be avoided on the grounds of preventive measure?

I actually meant, does reading such literature actually falls in the fawaish category?.

According to my knowledge, For something to be haram, it should fall in the Fawaish category.

And something fall in the fawaish category when the person himself is involved in that act. Like, If a person commits certain acts with someone that leads to zina, it will be considered as minor sin, and if zina occurs, it will be major sin.

But reading such literature can’t be termed as haram as there is no real participation of any person in it. Hence it does not fall in the fawaish category.

But a person himself or scholars can make prohibition on the grounds of preventive measure. So it must be a disliked act and not a sin but it can compel a person to commit a sin, so a person should avoid.

Okay got it but I still don’t understand one thing.

When a person himself engages in an act that leads to zina is categorized as minor sins, then would it be appropriate to categorize reading, or watching such things in the same bracket?.