Short answer
Yes. Reading horoscopes and zodiac predictions is haram, even just for fun, and believing that the stars decide your character, luck or future goes against tawhid. Only Allah knows the unseen. Astronomy, the science of the stars used for prayer times, the qibla and the calendar, is permitted and praised.
Astrology in the sense of predicting events and character from the stars is haram to learn, practise or consult, and believing the stars cause events is kufr. Astronomy for calculating times and directions is permitted.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
The Quran says that no one in the heavens or the earth knows the unseen except Allah, and that the keys of the unseen are with Him alone. A horoscope claims to know what will happen to you this week or what kind of person you are from the day you were born. That is a claim to knowledge of the unseen.
The Prophet ﷺ said that whoever goes to a fortune teller and asks him about something, his prayer is not accepted for forty nights. The scholars explain that the prayers still count and must be prayed, but their reward is lost. This applies to asking, even without believing, which is why reading horoscopes 'just for fun' is included. Believing them is worse: he said that whoever learns a branch of knowledge from the stars has learned a branch of magic.
Things that fall under this:
- Daily horoscopes in apps, magazines and social media.
- Zodiac 'personality' and compatibility charts.
- Tarot cards, palm reading, coffee-cup reading and similar.
- Blaming events on planets, such as 'Mercury retrograde'.
Astronomy is different. Muslims have long studied the stars to find the qibla, set prayer times and sight the moon, and this is praiseworthy. When you need guidance about the future, pray istikhara, consult wise people and rely on Allah. More in Astrology in Islam. The four schools agree on this ruling.
The evidence
Quran, Surah An-Naml 27:65
قُل لَّا يَعْلَمُ مَن فِى ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ٱلْغَيْبَ إِلَّا ٱللَّهُ ۚ وَمَا يَشْعُرُونَ أَيَّانَ يُبْعَثُونَ ﴿٦٥﴾
Say, "None in the heavens and earth knows the unseen except Allah, and they do not perceive when they will be resurrected."
Claims to predict the future from the stars contradict this.
Quran, Surah Al-An'aam 6:59
۞ وَعِندَهُۥ مَفَاتِحُ ٱلْغَيْبِ لَا يَعْلَمُهَآ إِلَّا هُوَ ۚ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا فِى ٱلْبَرِّ وَٱلْبَحْرِ ۚ وَمَا تَسْقُطُ مِن وَرَقَةٍ إِلَّا يَعْلَمُهَا وَلَا حَبَّةٍۢ فِى ظُلُمَٰتِ ٱلْأَرْضِ وَلَا رَطْبٍۢ وَلَا يَابِسٍ إِلَّا فِى كِتَٰبٍۢ مُّبِينٍۢ ﴿٥٩﴾
And with Him are the keys of the unseen; none knows them except Him. And He knows what is on the land and in the sea. Not a leaf falls but that He knows it. And no grain is there within the darknesses of the earth and no moist or dry [thing] but that it is [written] in a clear record.
Knowledge of the unseen belongs to Allah alone.
Sahih Muslim 2230
Sahih... من أتى عرافا فسأله عن شيء لم تقبل له صلاة أربعين ليلة ...
"Whoever goes to a fortune teller and asks him about anything, his prayer is not accepted for forty nights."
Even consulting predictions without belief is a serious sin.
Sunan Abi Dawud 3905
Graded hasan... من اقتبس علما من النجوم اقتبس شعبة من السحر ...
"Whoever learns a branch of knowledge from the stars has learned a branch of magic."
Astrology is treated as a form of sorcery.
Where the ruling is recorded
- Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Introduction, discussion of the science of the stars. Separates permitted astronomy from forbidden astrology.
This answer is pending review by the scholars on our team. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.