Author's Note
This is not a book about how to get rich trading. There are enough of those, and most of them are dishonest.
This is a book about how to survive the markets long enough to earn what they have to give - which is real, but smaller and slower than the marketing suggests, and only available to people who can hold a discipline that almost no one starts with.
I have blown up three trading accounts. The first on a regulated forex broker. The second on a CFD platform after I had convinced myself I had learned my lesson. The third on a different CFD platform after I had again convinced myself the same thing. None of these were dramatic single-trade blowups. They were the slow, almost dignified kind, where the account drains over weeks while the trader explains to themselves what is happening. I will describe those experiences honestly in the chapters that follow, because the lessons of those years are the foundation of everything else in this book.
Several things changed after the third account went to zero. I stopped trying to be clever. I started journaling every trade by hand. I rebuilt my entire framework around risk management instead of entry signals. And I began to take seriously what my faith had been telling me about wealth all along - that it accumulates honorably, slowly, and in service of something beyond the self.
The framework in this book reflects that integration. It is grounded in standard professional trading practice, drawn from years of work in regulated retail markets, and it is also grounded in Islamic ethical principles concerning riba, gharar, and the broader purposes for which wealth is built. These two foundations turn out to reinforce each other more than they conflict.
A note on what this book is not. It is not a fatwa. I am not a scholar. Where Islamic rulings on specific contracts are debated among contemporary scholars - and several relevant ones are - I will represent that debate fairly and recommend that you consult a qualified scholar for personal decisions. It is also not a complete trading system that you can copy. The systems I describe are illustrations of the underlying principles. Your work is to build the version that fits your circumstances, your temperament, and your time.
If you have come to this book hoping for shortcuts, you will not find them here. If you have come because you have already paid the price for shortcuts and want to learn the work, this book is for you.
May your trading be disciplined, your losses small, and your barakah great.
Addow, Mohamed: -
Mohamed Addow was born in Somalia and has lived the journey this book describes-not as a distant observer, but as someone who personally walked the path from conflict to exile, from survival to scholarship.
His educational journey began in Egypt, where he studied agriculture and gained a deep understanding of the cultural and political dynamics shaping the Horn of Africa. Upon returning to Somalia, Mohamed worked as a humanitarian, witnessing both the suffering and resilience of a people caught between war and hope.
As violence escalated, he sought asylum in Norway, a country that became home and offered him opportunities to grow, learn, and build a new life. Further studies in Italy deepened his understanding of migration, integration, and the quiet burdens borne by displaced communities. He also spent time living in the United Kingdom, enriching his perspective on diaspora life across Europe.
Now based in the Netherlands, Mohamed draws upon a rich tapestry of experiences spanning Somalia, Egypt, Norway, Italy, the UK, and the Netherlands. His voice is shaped by multiple worlds-Somali, Arab, Scandinavian, and European-and he writes not only to document but to dignify. His work bridges the emotional truths of exile with the broader realities of displacement, giving voice to stories too often unheard.
This book is more than a chronicle; it is a testament. It is the echo of a homeland carried in the heart, and the mark of a writer who never stopped moving, learning, or remembering. Mohamed Addow's journey mirrors the story he tells-a story of endurance, faith, adaptation, and the ongoing song of the Somali diaspora.
Mohamed Addow
On twitter: www.x.com/MohaAddow
Email: mcaddow@gmail.com
