Tradition

اِذا حَدَّثَ الرَّجُلُ بِحَديث، ثُمَّ الْتَفَتَ فَهِىَ اَمانَةٌ

The Prophet (S) is narrated to have said: “When someone says something and then looks around, their words are a secret and trust (and one must strive to preserve them).”1

Brief Commentary

Upholding trust has various forms in Islam - one of these forms is through preserving the secrets of the people. This is considered to be so important in Islam that revealing the secrets of people is counted as one of the greater sins. It isn’t even necessary for an individual to mention that what he is telling you should be kept a secret; it is enough for him to simply look around in a certain manner and be careful of those who are within range. This is enough for such words to be considered a secret and to make their safeguarding obligatory.

• 1. Nahj al-Fasahah, p. 38.