Truly We did offer Al-Amanah

Question :

Allâh Almighty says at the end of Surat Al-Ahzab:
"Truly We did offer Al-Amanah to the heavens and the earth, and the mountains, but they decline to hear it and were afraid of it. But man bore it. Verily, he was unjust and ignorant (of its results)."

What does "Al-Amanah mean? Is it referring to the intellect that we have been entrusted with or to all things that man ist entrusted with?

Answer:

Al-Amanah here means all things that man has been charged with, in terms of duties, and this embraces both worship and dealings. Religious duties are a trust which he must carry out. The prayer, fasting, charity, Hajj, Jihad, goodness with parents, fulfilling one's promises and contracts these and all other religious duties are a part of the Amanah that we have been entrusted with. We were given this trust because of our intellect, and it is obvious that animals cannot carry the burden of a trust because of their lack of one.

Allah Almighty offered the Amanah to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, and they all refused, because they were afraid that they would not be able to bear it. That man accepted to bear the Amanah is a testament to his ignorance and wrongdoing, however, when a man fulfils all of his religious obligations, performing what Allah Almighty ordered him to perform and abstaining from what Allah Almighty forbade him from, he is better than the heavens and the earth, because he not only accepted the Amanah, but he fulfilled its requirements.

But a person who does not bear the responsibilities of this Amanah is like those who are referred to in this verse:
"The likeness of those who were entrusted with the Tawrah, but who subsequently failed in those (obligations), is as the likeness of a donkey who carries huge burdens of books (but understands nothing from them)".

And Allah Almighty says:
"Verily. The worst of living creatures before Allah are those who disbelieve, so they shall not believe."

Hence a person who does not fulfil the requirements of the Amanah is regarded by Allah Almighty as the worst of living creatures; he is likened to a donkey because of its stupidity and its inability to evaluate a situation and then act accordingly.

Source:
Ibn 'Uthaimin
Fatawa Islamiyah, Vol. 7 Pages 144-145