Know which markets are open to you.

Buying and selling actual tokens directly. You fully own the tokens immediately upon purchase.

Spot trading of compliant utility tokens, commodities, or currencies is permissible: immediate exchange (qabd) and real ownership are present, and no interest is involved. The condition is non-negotiable — the underlying token itself must be halal. That is exactly what our screener rules on.

RefEvery major ruling on cryptocurrency, from the Fiqh Council of North America to Darul Uloom Karachi, with sources.

Crypto fatwas →

Purchasing shares of publicly traded companies outright, without margin or leverage.

Permissible when the company's core business is halal (no alcohol, gambling, or conventional finance) and it passes the financial ratio screens — debt-to-asset limits and haram revenue below the accepted threshold.

RefIIFA Resolution 63 (1992); AAOIFI Shari'ah Standard No. 21; Securities Commission Malaysia screening benchmarks.

Stock fatwas →

Funds that track an index or sector, traded on exchanges like stocks.

Only Shariah-compliant (Islamic) ETFs qualify. Conventional ETFs routinely hold haram constituents — banks, casinos — and use non-compliant structures such as securities lending.

RefSecurities Commission Malaysia, Guidelines on Islamic Capital Market Products and Services (2022), Chapter 31.

ETF fatwas →

Exchanging one currency for another, with both amounts delivered at once, at a bank or money changer.

Permissible when both sides are delivered immediately. Currency exchange follows the rules of sarf, so any deferral, margin or swap breaks it. This is the spot exchange the Fiqh Academy permits, not the leveraged forex that retail platforms sell.

RefIIFA Resolution 63 (1992); Jordan's General Iftaa' Department (2024).

Forex fatwas →

A mathematical measure of a market's performance (e.g., S&P 500).

You cannot own an index directly. Trading indices via CFDs or futures is haram — no underlying asset changes hands. Investing through a Shariah-compliant spot index fund or Islamic ETF that tracks the index is halal.

RefIIFA Resolution 63 (1992); Securities Commission Malaysia Shariah Advisory Council (1998).

Index fatwas →

Trading fiat currencies on margin using broker leverage, including the "funded accounts" prop firms hand out.

Fails on three counts: riba (swap fees and rollover interest), gharar (excessive uncertainty), and the absence of real possession (qabd). The broker's loan is conditioned on trading through them — a stipulation that itself violates Shariah.

RefIIFA Resolution 63 (1992); Muslim World League Fiqh Council (2006); Jordan's General Iftaa' Department (2024).

Forex fatwas →Margin fatwas →Prop firm fatwas →

Derivative contracts to buy or sell an asset at a future date and price.

The assets do not exist at the time of contract; neither party takes possession; and the dominant use is speculation on price movement rather than delivery — squarely within maysir (gambling).

RefIIFA Resolution 63 (1992); AAOIFI Shari'ah Standard No. 20; Securities Commission Malaysia (1997), which differs on futures.

Futures fatwas →Options fatwas →

Apps where you predict whether a price will be higher or lower after a set time, often under a minute, for a fixed payout or the loss of your whole stake. Sometimes sold as "fixed time trades".

Nothing is bought or sold, and one side wins exactly what the other loses: a wager on a price. Studying the chart first does not change the contract, and promoting these apps or selling signals for them is ruled out too.

RefIIFA Resolution 63 (1992); Islamweb Fatwas 237190 (2014) and 396433 (2019); Islam Question & Answer 323501 (2020); DSN-MUI Fatwa 28 (2002).

Binary option fatwas →

You pay a fee to take a trading challenge. Pass it and the firm gives you a "funded account" and a share of the profits.

The funded accounts trade leveraged forex, CFDs or futures, and most rewards are paid out of the fees of the many who fail. Scholars differ only on the paid challenge itself, and only under conditions most firms do not meet.

RefSeekersGuidance (2026); Sheikh Ahmad Kutty (2026); Jordan's General Iftaa' Department on leverage (2023, 2024).

Prop firm fatwas →Margin fatwas →

Markets where participants trade contracts on the outcomes of future events.

Pure speculative betting on uncertain outcomes — qimār and maysir by definition, explicitly forbidden. No screening can rehabilitate the structure.

RefQur'an 5:90-91; Jordan's General Iftaa' Department on betting (2016).

Prediction market fatwas →

Debt instruments where an investor loans money to an entity in exchange for interest.

A bond guarantees the return of principal plus interest — the textbook definition of riba, strictly prohibited. Sukuk, which represent ownership in real assets and share risk, are the permissible alternative.

RefIIFA Resolution 60 (1990); Qur'an 2:275.

Bond fatwas →