Trust (amanah)

On the debt verse, Sha'rawi sets trust between taking on an obligation and discharging it. He holds that faith preserves trust, but cannot guarantee the circumstances of repayment, so documentation helps ^{1 2}.

He says a pledge taken during travel is a safeguard like writing and witnessing at home, and that trust does not abolish generosity and giving ¹.

He reads the trust offered to the heavens, the earth and the mountains as the power of choice. They refused to carry it because they are subjected, and the human bore it with his capacity to choose, and is wrongdoing and ignorant if he fails in it ^{2 3}.

This reading of the Al-Ahzab verse is Sha'rawi's and has not been checked against the tafsir books. The academic view and any non-Sunni view have not been checked.

The Sheikh says that the Prophet ﷺ loved the fulfilment of trusts, and that the first of them is keeping secrets; he illustrates this with money left with a friend and returned on time ⁶. He lists the forms of trust in the eye, the ear, the sight and the tongue, and asks whether a Muslim has kept what he was charged with: prayer, zakat, gentleness towards Muslims, kindness to the young and respect for scholars ⁷. He extends trust to action, word, gatherings and lowering the gaze, and mentions a hadith describing the people of Paradise as chaste and gentle, without naming its narrator ⁸. He holds that precision with public money is a form of fulfilling trust, and that word, glance, gathering, honour, homes, religion and the Qur'an are all trusts ⁹.

A caller asked whether trust has become spoil. The Sheikh answered that the authentic collections list among the signs of the Hour that trust becomes spoil and zakat a fine, and he mentioned a number of other signs that the recording does not make clear (needs_source: number of signs) ¹⁰. He holds that the trust of work and office is spoiled when an employee sees his post as a means of enrichment, and that salvation requires treating trust as a great responsibility ¹¹.

He lists further forms of trust: word, judgement, office, money, worship, people's secrets, neighbourhood and the manners of the road. He holds that losing them makes a Muslim hostile to non-Muslims because of their religion ⁴. He says that people of the dhimma have rights and duties, and that treating trust as spoil pushes away from faith, while fulfilling it, by keeping secrets and otherwise, is beloved to God (needs_source: figures garbled) ⁵. He concludes that trust is a burden and a charge, not spoil ¹².

He says that money and self are a trust held by a person; he asks who wastes them on the forbidden, such as drugs and sins, and calls for spending God's bounty in obedience ¹³. He transmits a saying attributed to Abu Dhar, that people were like a rose with no thorn and then became thorns with no rose, and criticises the disorder and decline of manners he sees in markets and malls (needs_source: saying-attributed-unsourced) ¹⁴.

The Sheikh cites a saying that a single word can weigh a person down or lift him up, and treats speech as a trust that is weighed. ¹⁵ He warns that the tongue can bring its owner to ruin, and he treats false witness and false oaths as grave. ¹⁶

The Sheikh cites a saying that among the gravest betrayals is a spouse telling the other's private matters to outsiders, and he says that this applies to husbands as much as to wives. ¹⁷ He holds that homes and gatherings have their secrets, and that a person should not carry the news of a gathering outside it. ¹⁸ He advises a husband to guard his wife's secrets and honour, and to be cheerful at home rather than frowning over his work. ¹⁹ He says that what is shared in a gathering is a trust, and that only useful knowledge may be repeated. ²⁰ He cites a saying that among the greatest betrayals is a husband confiding a secret to his wife and her spreading it, and he gives the wives of Noah and Lot as examples of betraying secrets. ²¹ The speaker's view is that people should be left to worship God and live as they choose, and that interrogating people about their private matters pushes them to lie. ²²

The Sheikh recounts that Umar sent away a man who sought office, and later found him on all fours with his children on his back. Umar said that one who is not merciful at home cannot be merciful to the public (needs_source: the anecdote is not sourced in the recording). ²³ He recounts that Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, on taking office, asked people not to praise him or approach him with flattery. ²⁴ He says that zakat is a duty, that the trust also covers office and administration, and that a manager is answerable for those under him. ²⁵ He says that blessings and office depart from rulers who do not fear God or who use their position for their own gain, and that the rights of the weak must be restored. ²⁶ He cites a saying that the loss of trust is a sign of the Hour, and says that trust is wider than the keeping of money. ²⁷ He recounts a saying about one who lost his trust and is thrown into a pit of the Fire at the bridge. ²⁸ He says that provision comes from God and not from a department or a salary office, and cites a verse (sura not named) that provision is in heaven. ²⁹ The speaker's view is that the trust of the media is among the greatest trusts. Those who run it should invite people who keep nations safe, avoid stirring up sects, and unite rather than divide. ³⁰

He cites a verse (sura not named) about the trust offered to the heavens, the earth and the mountains, which declined to carry it, and which humans took up. ³¹ He explains the trust as worship of God, by keeping His commands and avoiding His prohibitions, and says that the heavens and the earth said they came in obedience without being ordered. ³² He says that acts of worship such as ablution and humility in prayer are trusts. ³³

He says that the believer is responsible for upholding and practising his religion, and that everything given to him is a trust. ³⁴ He says that when God takes a part of the body, the believer who sees the owner's right to take should not grieve. ³⁵ He cites a saying that a people who do not keep God's blessings close will lose them, and that once lost they rarely return. ³⁶ He says that keeping people's money, secrets and honour makes a person safe, and that a Muslim is one from whose tongue and hands people are safe. ³⁷ He recounts that Jabir's wife returned a deposit to its owners the same morning, and he praises her faith (needs_source: the story is not sourced in the recording, and part of the account is unclear). ³⁸