Forex Trading
That does not answer my Question.I am talking about the nature of our interaction with retail brokers and our way of earning money ( which is like making bets against them and not really participating in the market). Not scalping or intraday trading.
Before laying my arguments and also the view that broker in your case is an extension of market, let me say that I am not an active expert in forex and finance markets NOR an Islamic expert who has studied these issues, what I know about these issues is due to my interest in the scientific nature of these markets and how they deal with the economics and capital allocation, and especially the efficient market hypothesis etc. Now on my view of broker as an extension of the market rather then a gambling partner between some players. I am arguing from the big picture that large brokers who also participate in the market, do what we call market making, even in stocks market you are holding the stocks of a company because big players are providing liquidity and market making, in the forex area the difference is that the broker which is a big player assumes the role of the market and tells you his believe in efficient market hypothesis and that market is random. By acting as if he is a market he is basically providing you the chance to prove him wrong that market is efficient and hence you make money and he loses it. The operation between you and broker looks like sort of gamble, but if you zoom out and see the big picture, these brokers are providing you liquidity and chance to exploit the assumption of efficient maket hypothesis and hence make money. There assumption is that market is efficient and small players have no chance of exploiting it, your assumption is that you can exploit and there are opportunities. Your own success in the market can be made on gambles but keep in mind that chances of such successes mathematical are very very low, hence there must be some structure you are basing your trades on which is not a gamble and in my view a skilled and knowledgeable player even if he is small player is not a gambler but a technical exploiter, which is fair game and not against any Islamic principle. Again, I am stressing the part of knowledge, skills and training which in my view holds the key in these complex question of permissibility of financial trades in view of Islamic laws.