(Gheerah: A word in Arabic which is a conglomerate of honour, self respect and protective pride)
‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas reported:
“One day, Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه) entered what was known as a Midraas (a kind of Jewish temple that was specifically used for the recitation of the Torah). Having entered the Midraas, Abu Bakr saw a group of people gathered around a man named Finhaas, who was one of their foremost scholars and monks; and seated beside Finhaas was Ashya’, who was also a Jewish scholar. Abu Bakr approached the gathering and said to Finhaas, “Woe upon you! O Finhaas! Fear Allah, and embrace Islam. For by Allah, you indeed know that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and that he has come to you with the truth from Allah. And you have that truth written down with you in the Torah and the Injeel.”
Finhaas said, “By Allah, O Abu Bakr, we are not needy to Allah, but rather it is Allah Who is needy to us (i.e. we are not poor, but Allah is poor). We do not supplicate to Him as He supplicates to us; in fact, whereas we do not need Him, He needs us. Had He not needed us, he would not have asked to borrow our wealth (i.e., the distribution of charity to the poor) — which (i.e., the borrowing of wealth for the distribution of charity) is what your companion claims. Furthermore, Allah has prohibited you from usury, whereas He has granted it to us. Had He been All-Rich, He would not have given us permission to deal in usury.”
Abu Bakr got angry and struck him with a severe blow to his face, and then said, “By the One Who has my soul in His Hand, had it not been for the covenant that was agreed upon between us and you, I would have struck off your neck , O enemy of Allah.”
Finhaas then went to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in order to complain: “O Muhammad,” he said, “look at what your companion did to me!” The Messenger of Allah asked Abu Bakr, “What made you do this?”
Abu Bakr replied, “O Messenger of Allah, verily the enemy of Allah spoke awful and blasphemous words: He claimed that Allah is poor and that they are rich. When he said that,’ I became angry for the sake of Allah, which led me to strike him across his face.”
Finhaas lied, denying that he ever said such words (as Abu Bakr was then ascribing to him).
Allah then revealed a verse in which he at once exposed Finhaas’s lie and confirmed the truthfulness of Abu Bakr.
“Allah has certainly heard the statement of those [Jews] who said, “Indeed, Allah is poor, while we are rich.” We will record what they said and their killing of the prophets without right and will say, “Taste the punishment of the Burning Fire”.” (Quran 3: 181)
Umdat-Ut-Tafseer 1/444. Shaikh Ahmad Shakir mentioned that this narration is Jayyid or Sahih. In Fathul-Bari 8/79, Imam Ibn Hajr said that the chain of this narration is Hasan. (Translation adapted from ‘The Biography of Abu Bakr As-Siddeeq’ by Dr. Ali As-Sallabee, English, Darussalam Riyadh Publications, page 155).
Saheehus-Seerah 