The question/claim: "Are horoscopes, coffee-cup reading, palm reading and astrology a harmless pastime in religion? Or is there a problem?"
What does the Qur'an say? — the unseen belongs to God alone
The Qur'an rejects any claim to determine the future / the unseen; knowing it belongs to God alone:
"…divining arrows (azlām) are a defilement from Satan's work; so avoid it…" (5:90)
"With Him are the keys of the unseen; none knows them but He…" (6:59)
"Say: None in the heavens and earth knows the unseen except God…" (27:65)
Concept ≠ science: astrology ≠ astronomy
- Fortune-telling (coffee, palm, cards, star-charts) claims to give news of the unseen about a person's future/fate. This contradicts the verses reserving the unseen for God; divining arrows are a pre-Islamic custom the Qur'an forbids.
- Astrology — claiming that the heavenly bodies determine a person's fate — is the same category.
- Astronomy (the scientific study of the heavens) is something entirely different and is knowledge — it must not be confused with this.
An honest limit
- Certain: knowing/determining the unseen belongs to God alone (6:59; 27:65); divining arrows are explicitly forbidden in the Qur'an (5:90).
- The "fun" excuse: even if the intent is "fun," believing the fortune-teller or tying one's fate to them contradicts monotheism. The authentic Sunnah gravely warns against going to and affirming a fortune-teller (Muslim, Salām).
- Cultural: the horoscope column and fortune-reading custom are part of modern/folk culture, not an institution of the religion.
Conclusion: horoscopes and fortune-telling clash with the Qur'anic rule that the unseen belongs to God; though they look like "harmless fun," they are a cultural practice, not a command of the religion, and become problematic for monotheism once taken as belief.
Source: Qur'anic verses (M. Okuyan meal). Built on the principle that the unseen belongs to God alone; not a fiqh fatwa.