I am pregnant by my husband, and there is an old wives' tale about gender prediction that says that if you hold a ring and thread over your stomach you will know whether it is a boy or a girl because of how the ring moves. My husband, who is Muslim, says that he cannot do this and cannot believe in it because it is a form of divination. To me, it is just a game. I do not know if it is because of his religion or not, but I would like to know whether this is forbidden in Islam or not.

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

Such matters cannot be confirmed except with Islamic evidence from the Quran or the Sunnah of the Prophet or based on a correct scientific foundation. If it is not proven through any of these, then it is a kind of fortune-telling and divination, and it is forbidden to do it. It is confirmed in the Sharee'ah that it is forbidden to ask a fortune-teller, let alone believe in what he says.

Safiyyah narrated from one of the Prophet’s wives all, that the Prophet said, “A person who goes to a soothsayer (or magician or diviner) and asks him (about something), his prayer is not accepted for forty nights.” [Muslim]

Allaah knows best.