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As for rendering trusts, there are two types:
The first concerns appointments to positions of authority, and this was the occasion for the revelation of the verse.
When the Prophet—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him—conquered Mecca and received the keys of the Kaaba from Banū Shaybah (1), al-Abbās asked him for them so that he might combine the duty of providing water to the pilgrims with custodianship of the House. Allah then revealed this verse, so the Prophet handed (2) the keys of the Kaaba to Banū Shaybah (3).
The person in authority must therefore appoint to every position concerning the Muslims the most qualified person he can find for it. The Prophet—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him—said: “Whoever assumes responsibility for any part of the Muslims’ affairs and appoints a man while knowing that someone else is more qualified to serve the Muslims has betrayed Allah and His Messenger, and has betrayed (4) the believers.” Al-Hākim narrated it in his Sahih (5).
(1) Manuscript *zāy* reads: “Banī Abī Talha,” and likewise at the second occurrence. This is correct. The person who handed the keys of the Kaaba to the Prophet—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him—and to whom the Prophet then returned them was Uthmān ibn Talha ibn Abī Talha al-Abdarī. Among his descendants was Shayba, from whom comes the nisba *al-Shaybī*. His family retains the keys of the Kaaba to this day. See *Tafsīr al-Tabarī*, 7:171; Ibn Hazm, *Jamhara al-Ansāb*, p. 127; and *al-Isāba*, 4:450–451.
(2) Manuscript *zā* reads: “so he returned them.”
(3) Ibn Jarīr reported it, 7:171, as did Ibn al-Mundhir in his *Tafsīr*, 2:762, from Ibn Jurayj. Ibn Mardawayh also reported it—as cited in *al-Durr al-Manthūr*, 2:312—from Ibn Abbās.
(4) The words “and betrayed” appear in the original.
(5) *Al-Mustadrak*, 4:92–93. It was also reported by Ibn Abī Āsim in *al-Sunna* (1462), Ibn Adī in *al-Kāmil*, 2:352, and al-Uqaylī in *al-Duafā*, 1:247, through Husayn ibn Qays al-Rahabī, from Ikrima, from Ibn Abbās—may Allah be pleased with them both.
Al-Hākim said: “This hadith has a sound chain of transmission, although al-Bukhārī and Muslim did not include it.” Al-Dhahabī challenged this assessment, noting that Husayn ibn Qays was weak. In his biographical entry on al-Rahabī, al-Uqaylī said: “He narrates several hadiths for which he has no corroboration and which are known only through him.” He also stated that this hadith is transmitted as a statement of Umar ibn al-Khattāb.
It was also narrated through other chains from Ibn Abbās by al-Bayhaqī, 10:115; al-Tabarānī in *al-Kabīr* (11216); Abū Nuaym in *Fadīlat al-Adilīn*, p. 107; and al-Khatīb in his *History*, 6:76. All of these chains are weak. See *Nasb al-Rāya*, 4:62, and *al-Silsila al-Daīfa* (4545).