Permissibility of trading Forex
Question
Asalamualakim respected Mufti.
I am asking this question on behalf of my friend.
I do forex trading which involves trading currencies online, buying and selling real-life currencies to make a profit. Money is put into a live account which I carried out with an islamic broker. The money deposited is a fixed amount and the value does not change depending on the value of the British pound sterling. Currencies are bought and sold in this way to make a profit and I react depending on their market value. Example being pounds to dollars. The profit made goes straight into the account.
I wanted to ask whether this is permissible.
Jazakullah khayr
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
There are various types of forex dealings. The ruling of each one differs from the other.
In an online forex trading platform, one does not actually buy the currency. Rather, one buys a position on the currency. Therefore, in most instances, forex trading is not permissible.
Kindly provide us information on the platform you are trading with. We will then advise further.
You may send the details to [email protected]
Ref. Mohamed Ebrahim
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Mohamed Ebrahim bin Ismail Abdullah
Student - Darul Iftaa
Pietermaritzburg, KZN, South Africa
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.
24-02-1442|12-10-2020
Contemporary Fatawa (pg.141)
References (Arabic / Urdu sources)
الفتاوى الهندية (3/ 224)
لَوْ بَاعَ الْفُلُوسَ بِالْفُلُوسِ ثُمَّ افْتَرَقَا قَبْلَ التَّقَابُضِ بَطَلَ الْبَيْعُ وَلَوْ قَبَضَ أَحَدُهُمَا وَلَمْ يَقْبِضْ الْآخَرُ أَوْ تَقَابَضَا ثُمَّ اُسْتُحِقَّ مَا فِي يَدِي أَحَدِهِمَا بَعْدَ الِافْتِرَاقِ فَالْعَقْدُ صَحِيحٌ عَلَى حَالِهِ كَذَا فِي الْحَاوِي
البحر الرائق شرح كنز الدقائق (6/ 143)
فِي أَحْكَامِ الْفُلُوسِ فِي الْمُحِيطِ لَوْ بَاعَ الْفُلُوسَ بِالْفُلُوسِ أَوْ بِالدَّرَاهِمِ أَوْ بِالدَّنَانِيرِ فَنَقَدَ أَحَدُهُمَا دُونَ الْآخَرِ جَازَ، وَإِنْ افْتَرَقَا لَا عَنْ قَبْضِ أَحَدِهِمَا جَازَ
فتاوی دار العلوم زکریا (5/333)
پہلی صورت میں چونکہ ڈالر و غیرہ کے عوض روپے ملتے ہیں اور دو ملکوں کی کرنسی مختلف جنس کے حکم میں ہے اس لیے کمی بیشی کے ساتہ بیع کرنا جائز ہے نیز چونکہ یہ ثمن عرفی ہے ثمن حقیقی نہیں اس لیے اس مجلس میں تقابض بہی ضروری نہیں، ہاں ایک جانب سے قبضہ ضروری ہے تاکہ بیع الکالی بالکالی سے بچ جاۓ
- Answered by
- Mohamed Ebrahim bin Ismail Abdullah
- Checked & approved by
- Mufti Ebrahim Desai
Fatawa SA is an independent, read-only index of fatawa already published by Darul Iftaa Mahmudiyyah (AskImam). It is not a fatwa service. For your own situation, ask the issuing Darul Ifta directly.