First, he said: “When he is entrusted, he betrays.” If someone entrusts him with anything, he violates that trust. For instance, he may be given a deposit and told, “Keep this safe”—whether it is money, a watch, a pen, merchandise, or anything else—yet he uses it for himself, leaves it unsecured, or allows someone stronger to seize it. In short, he does not discharge the trust.
The same applies when he is entrusted with a confidential matter and told, “Do not tell anyone.” Off he goes divulging it: “So-and-so told me this, so-and-so told me that.” Some people—Allah’s refuge is sought—are tried with the love of status and fame. Let a governor, a dignitary, or a notable confide in them, and they will announce, “The prince told me such-and-such, the minister told me such-and-such, the shaykh told me such-and-such,” flaunting before the people that the eminent converse with them. This too is betrayal of trust.
Another example concerns the trusts bound to public appointments: a person may be made guardian of an orphan—over his property, his custody, and his upbringing—yet he neglects the duty. He mismanages the orphan’s wealth, perhaps even borrowing from it for himself without knowing whether he can repay it later, and fails to handle it in the best manner. That, likewise, is betrayal of trust.
Still another case is a person’s neglect of the duty to nurture his family and children, whom Allah has placed in his care. The Exalted said: “O you who believe, guard yourselves and your families against a Fire whose fuel is people and stones” (Q 66:6). Allah has given you no authority over them except that He will question you about them on the Day of Resurrection, until you will wish there had been no bond between you and them. Allah the Most High says: “The Day when a man will flee from his brother, his mother and his father, his wife and his children—each one of them on that Day will have enough concern of his own” (Q 80:34-37).
Betrayal of trust also includes a person who is an imam leading the people in the Friday prayer