Short answer
Amanah means trust: anything placed in your care that you must look after and return. It covers money and items left with you, secrets told to you, your job, your words, and the religion itself. Betraying a trust is haram and a sign of hypocrisy.
Fulfilling trusts is fard and betraying them is haram. Goods left in your care (wadi'a) must be kept safe, and you are only liable for loss if you neglected or misused them. Revealing a secret told in confidence is haram unless keeping it would cause serious harm.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
The Quran says that Allah commands you to give back trusts to those they belong to. It also describes how Allah offered 'the Trust' to the heavens, the earth and the mountains, and they declined it, but man took it on. The scholars explain this Trust as the duties of the religion. The Prophet ﷺ named betraying a trust as one of the three signs of a hypocrite.
Amanah in daily life:
- Things left with you: a friend's car, a deposit, money held for someone. Keep it safe, do not use it without permission, and return it on time.
- Secrets: the Prophet ﷺ said that when a man tells you something and then looks around, it is a trust. A screenshot of a private chat shared with others is a broken trust.
- Advice: he said that the one who is consulted is trusted, so give honest advice.
- Your job: working the hours you are paid for and not misusing company property.
- Positions of responsibility: a manager, teacher, parent or leader holds a trust over those in their care.
When can a secret be told? If keeping it means someone will be seriously harmed, such as abuse, a planned crime or danger to life, you should tell the person who can stop it. That is not betrayal.
If something left with you is lost without your fault, you do not have to pay for it in the Hanafi school. If you were careless or used it without permission, you are liable. For questions about a specific loss or dispute, ask a mufti. The four schools agree on these principles.
The evidence
Quran, Surah An-Nisaa 4:58
۞ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَأْمُرُكُمْ أَن تُؤَدُّوا۟ ٱلْأَمَٰنَٰتِ إِلَىٰٓ أَهْلِهَا وَإِذَا حَكَمْتُم بَيْنَ ٱلنَّاسِ أَن تَحْكُمُوا۟ بِٱلْعَدْلِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ نِعِمَّا يَعِظُكُم بِهِۦٓ ۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ سَمِيعًۢا بَصِيرًۭا ﴿٥٨﴾
Indeed, Allah commands you to render trusts to whom they are due and when you judge between people to judge with justice. Excellent is that which Allah instructs you. Indeed, Allah is ever Hearing and Seeing.
Returning trusts is a command from Allah.
Quran, Surah Al-Ahzaab 33:72
إِنَّا عَرَضْنَا ٱلْأَمَانَةَ عَلَى ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَٱلْجِبَالِ فَأَبَيْنَ أَن يَحْمِلْنَهَا وَأَشْفَقْنَ مِنْهَا وَحَمَلَهَا ٱلْإِنسَٰنُ ۖ إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ ظَلُومًۭا جَهُولًۭا ﴿٧٢﴾
Indeed, we offered the Trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, and they declined to bear it and feared it; but man [undertook to] bear it. Indeed, he was unjust and ignorant.
Man has taken on the Trust of Allah's commands.
Sahih al-Bukhari 33
Sahih... وإذا وعد أخلف وإذا اؤتمن خان ...
"When he promises he breaks it, and when he is trusted he betrays."
Betraying a trust is a sign of hypocrisy.
Sunan Abi Dawud 4868
Grading to be checked... إذا حدث الرجل بالحديث ثم التفت فهي أمانة ...
"When a man tells you something and then looks around, it is a trust."
Private words are a trust that must be kept.
Jami' at-Tirmidhi 2369
Grading to be checked... إن المستشار مؤتمن خذ هذا ...
"The one who is consulted is trusted. Take this one."
Advice must be honest, since the adviser holds a trust.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Wadi'a. A deposit is a trust; the keeper is not liable unless he transgresses or neglects.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. 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.