Teaching people how to use methods for day trading
Sallam Allaikum,I have 2 questions that I hope you will help me with. I appreciate all the good work that you are doing.1. I live in the west and I am a partner in a business with a non-muslim that is in the financial trading industry. We sell courses that teach people how to analyze financial charts to make buying/selling decisions. The industry term is "Technical Analysis" and it is something that is used in Muslim countries as well as western countries to analyze financial markets.Although the methods that we teach can be used to analyze any chart in general in addition to any stock whether sharia-compliant or non-sharia compliant, the focus of our business is currently on people that are involved in short term trading like day trading stocks, forex (currencies) and futures.The business sells 3 products:1. A technical analysis course that teaches investors how to analyze financial charts of any market whether sharia-compliant or non-sharia compliant.2. we also have a service that advises people of potential trading opportunities in the index futures market. We don't give specific buy or sell recommendations but we give market analysis using the methods we teach e.g. we tell people that there might be a trading opportunity in the afternoon around 3.00 PM but we don't tell them to buy/sell.3. We have online training sessions where show people how to apply the methods on the markets. The primary market is a day trading futures market and my partner who is responsible for trading, does sometimes day trade with his own money.From reading different opinions on the internet regarding day trading, I have learnt that it is questionable in Islam as opposed to stock trading which is permissible if the stocks are sharia-compliant. On a related note, there are companies teaching people day trading in muslim countries in strict countries like Saudi Arabia so I am not sure whether this means that the religious authorities in Saudi Arabia are OK with this or not.My question is this:Since the focus of our business is on teaching people how to use the methods for day trading (since this is the main market), am I doing something haram and if so, how can I change things so that I can have peace of mind that I am not doing anything wrong? Should I for example concentrate on teaching the methods to a general audience and its then up to them to use it on other markets and sharia-compliant or non-sharia compliant stocks or am I OK selling the course to people that are interested in day trading as long as I am not day trading myself? Should I only take profit from the services that would be OK with Islam.I have invested my own money in this business and it is what I want to do in the long term but how can I make sure that I go about this the right way? Do I only take profits from selling courses that don't teach people to day trade i.e. do I create a course that can teach people to analyze charts in general and then leave it up to people to use it at their discretion?The biggest problem is that the target market in the west is mainly non-muslims so in order for the business to continue to exist, the business needs to target people that day trade ( from a marketing point of view). Furthermore, I am the partner that is responsible for marketing.2. Is it permissible to make buying/selling decisions on stocks strictly based on technical analysis if the stocks are sharia-compliant? Example, an Islamic stock research company recommends a number of stocks that are sharia-compliant, can I analyze the relevant charts and make buying/selling decisions based on the charts?Also, would it be OK to only hold on to the stock for a few days or a few weeks? I understand that investing in stocks is permissible because it is looked upon as an (long term?) investment and I am not clear on whether this means that I can hold on to them as long as I am day trading or whether short term trading of a few days or weeks is also prohibited because it might not be considered "investment" and is just buying with the intention to sell once the prices fluctuate or the price of the stock appreciates in value.I should be grateful for your help and please accept my apologies for the long question. This issue has been really bothering me because I am worried that I might be doing something inappropriate. I have been as honest as I can in my description of my business and I hope that you will be able to give me advice.Jazakum Allah Khair
