Assalamaualaikum. Is it allowed to predict the price of a currency for trading? like some one wants to predict the price of Dollars tomorrow. If my Artificial Intelligence algorithm predicts higher price for timorrow, he will buy the dollars today and sell it tomorrow. is it okay?

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

What we can say in brief is that predicting the price of a currency or of other goods and equipment based on experience about the state of the market and other means is permissible and there is nothing wrong with it. This is not considered as claiming the knowledge of the Unseen.

We have already stated in several previous Fataawa that it is not part of the knowledge of the Unseen to predict certain results based on one’s experience or the repetition of the events.

Since you write to us sometimes in Arabic, then we refer you to some Arabic Fataawa in this regard in our Arabic website, which are as follows: Fatwa 130444 on the ruling of predicting what will happen in the future, 233305 on predicting future events is not entirely claiming the knowledge of the Unseen, and Fatwa 150499 on the ruling on technical analysis of the shares in the stock market, and Fatwa 205165 which clarifies that predictions based on experience and observations are not included in the scope of the Unseen.

As we have already highlighted in many Fataawa, there is nothing wrong in trading with currencies, and benefitting from the differences of exchange rates and market fluctuations, while adhering to the Sharee’ah rulings, the most important of which are: exchanging hand to hand when exchanging different currencies, like selling Pound Sterling for Dollars, for example. Ubaadah ibn As-Saamit narrated that the Prophet said: "…If these categories differ, then sell as you wish provided the payment is made hand to hand." [Muslim]

For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 353098, 274579, 210430, 129699 and 123193.

Allah knows best.