Amanah

Definition of "Amanah"

Trust, with associated meanings of trustworthiness, faithfulness and honesty. As an important secondary meaning, the term also identifies a transaction where one party keeps another’s funds or property in trust. This is in fact the most widely understood and used application of the term, and has a long history of use in Islamic commercial law. By extension, the term can also be used to describe different financial or commercial activities such as deposit taking, custody or goods on consignment.

Amanah entails absence of liability for loss except in breach of duty. Current Accounts are regarded as Amanah (trust). If the bank gets authority to use Current Accounts funds in his business, Amanah transforms into a loan. As every loan has to be repaid, banks are liable to repay full amount of the Current Accounts.