TRUST [al-Ammānah]

What We Need To Know About Trust (al-Ammānah) In Islam.

Praise be to Allah.
What is too heavy for both heavens, earth and mountains to shoulder is exactly what we (Muslims) takes so so lightly. Yes.

Trust (al-Ammānah) – in Islamic terms – has two meanings; a general meaning and a specific meaning.

The general meaning of trust has to do with all commands and prohibitions of Islam.

Among the evidence for that is the verse in which Allah says (Interpretation of its meaning): “Truly, We did offer al-Amaanah (the trust or moral responsibility or honesty and all the duties which Allah has ordained),, to the heavens and the earth, and the mountains, but they declined to bear it and were afraid of it... But man bore (accepted) it.. Verily, man was unjust (to himself) and ignorant (of its results)” [Al-Ahzaab 33:72]

Ibn Jareer at-Tabari (may Allah have mercy on him), when said: “The view that is most likely to be correct is the view of those who said that what is meant by the ammānah (trust) here is all types of trust, whether they have to do with matters of religion or with people’s rights, like our wives /husbands, children, orphans under us etc. Yes. That is because when Allah said “We did offer al-Ammānah (the trust or moral responsibility or honesty and all the duties which Allah has ordained)”, He (Allah) did not single out some of the meanings of ammānaah to the exclusion of others.” [End quote from Tafseer at-Tabari (vol.19 pg.204-205).]

The mufassir Shaykh Muhammad al-Ameen ash-Shinqeeti (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “The ammānah (trust) includes everything that Allah has entrusted to you and instructed you to take care of. That includes guarding your physical faculties from engaging in anything that is not pleasing to Allah, and guarding anything that has been entrusted to you that has to do with the rights and dues of others.” [End quote from Adwa’ al-Bayaan (vol.5 pg.846)]

With regard to the specific meaning of ammānah (trust), there are numerous mutawātir Islamic texts which enjoin paying attention to trusts and fulfilling them, and not neglecting or betraying them. That is widely discussed in the books of the scholars and fuqaha’, and is widely spoken of among people in general.

Based on that, what is meant by ammānah or trust in this sense is everything that the individual is obliged to take care of, uphold and fulfil of the rights of others.

There are three well-known scenarios with regard to ammānah or trust.

1- Financial rights that are established by contracts and covenants, such as items left with a person for safekeeping, loans, hiring and rentals, and so on; and those concerning which there is no contract, such as found items and what people pick up of the lost property of others. eg

• In the sense of an item that is left in the possession of the person to whom it was entrusted. This may be with regard to one of the following scenarios

(a.)  A contract in which the ammānah is the primary focus, which is when an item is left with a person for safe keeping. This is more specific than ammānah, because every item that is left with a person for safekeeping is an ammānah, but the converse is not necessarily true

(b.)  A contract in which the ammānah is implied, but it is not the primary focus; rather it is connected to it as a consequence, such as renting, borrowing, profit sharing, appointing someone to act as an agent, partnerships and collateral for halal loans.

(c.)  Cases in which no contract is involved, such as picking up lost property, or that which the wind blows into a neighbour’s house. Such cases are called shar‘i trusts.

2- Keeping people’s secrets

It was narrated that Abu Sa‘eed al-Khudri (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “One of the most evil people before Allah on the Day of Resurrection will be a man who is intimate with his wife and she is intimate with him, then he broadcasts her secrets.” [Narrated by Abu Dawood (4868)]

3- Positions of responsibility, whether social, public or private

One should carry out such positions of trust and responsibility on a basis of truth and justice. A position of rulership is a trust, a judicial position is a trust, a management position in any organisation is a trust, responsibility for a family (wife /husband /children) is a trust, and the same applies to all positions of responsibility.

It was narrated that Abu Dharr said: I said: O Messenger of Allah, will you not appoint me (to a position of authority)? He struck me on the shoulder with his hand and said: “O Abu Dharr, you are weak and it is a trust, and on the Day of Resurrection it will be a source of humiliation and regret, except for the one who takes it and fulfils all obligations and does all duties required.” [Narrated by Muslim (1825)]

Secondly:
What is required in the case of both public and private trusts is to take care of the trust and fulfil it in the proper manner as required by sharee‘ah, and it is haraam to neglect it or betray it.

Allah, may He be exalted, says (Interpretation of its meaning): “O you who believe! Betray not Allah and His Messenger, nor betray knowingly your Ammānat (things entrusted to you, and all the duties which Allah has ordained for you)” [al-Anfaal 8:27]

Betrayal of trusts is one of the signs of hypocrisy. Yes.

It was narrated from ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “There are four characteristics, whoever has them all is a pure hypocrite, and whoever has one of them has one of the characteristics of hypocrisy, until he gives it up: when he makes a covenant he betrays it, when he speaks he lies, when he makes a promise he breaks it, and when he disputes he resorts to obscene speech.” [Narrated by al-Bukhaari (34) and Muslim (58)]

Thirdly:
Betrayal of trust is a sin, and in fact it is a major sin. Although it is a grave sin, the gate of repentance is open.

Allah, may He be exalted, says (Interpretation of its meaning) “And He it is Who accepts repentance from His slaves, and forgives sins, and He knows what you do” [ash-Shoora 42:25].

It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever repents before the sun rises from its place of setting, Allaah will accept his repentance.” [Narrated by Muslim (2703)]

Sincere repentance means hastening to give up the sin, regretting it, and resolving not to go back to it. Then the sinner who neglected the trust should see whether the trust that he neglected has to do with the rights of Allah, in which case – in addition to repenting and seeking forgiveness – he should find out if there are any shar‘i requirements that he must fulfil in order to make up for this negligence, such as making up (missed obligatory deeds) or offering expiation.

For example, if someone neglects the trust of fasting, by breaking the fast deliberately during Ramadan, then – in addition to repenting – he must make up the days that he did not fast. If his breaking of the fast was done by having intercourse, then he must offer the required expiation. This is also applicable to all other shar‘i matters that he neglected.

But if the trust that he betrayed has to do with the rights of people, then – in addition to what is explained above about repentance – he must also fulfil that right and give that person his dues, or ask him to let him off and forgive him.

It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever has wronged someone with regard to his honour or anything else, let him ask for his forgiveness today, before (a Day when) there will be no dinar and no dirham, and if he has any righteous deeds to his credit, they will be taken from him, commensurate with the wrong that he did, and if he does not have any good deeds to his credit, some of the bad deeds of his opposite number will be taken and added to his burden.” [Narrated by al-Bukhaari (2449)]

Allah knows best.