لَتُبْلَوُنَّ فِي أَمْوَالِكُمْ وَأَنفُسِكُمْ وَلَتَسْمَعُنَّ مِنَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ وَمِنَ الَّذِينَ أَشْرَكُوا أَذًى كَثِيرًا ۚ وَإِن تَصْبِرُوا وَتَتَّقُوا فَإِنَّ ذَٰلِكَ مِنْ عَزْمِ الْأُمُورِ ﴿١٨٦﴾
“You shall definitely be tested in your wealth and yourselves, and you will certainly hear much abuse from those who were given the scripture before you and from those who ascribe partners (to Allah Ta‘ala). And if you observe patience and fear Allah, then this (observance) is among the matters of resolution.” (Surah Aal ‘Imraan v186)
According to some commentators, when the verse, “Who is the one who would give Allah a good loan.” (Surah Baqarah v245) was revealed, a Jew named Finhaas reacted by commenting, “Indeed, Allah is poor and we are rich.” (Surah Aal ‘Imraan v181) This absurd statement deeply angered Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) and he slapped him. The Jew thus complained to Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) about him and this verse was subsequently revealed.
According to others, it was revealed regarding Ka’b bin Ashraf who would recite defamatory poetry about Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) and mock at the Muslims. This verse could also be regarding the Jews and polytheists in general who would hurl abusive statements at the Muslims by means of which they would naturally become grieved.
Nonetheless, this verse instructs the Muslims that they should not show weakness when it comes to spending their wealth and using their lives to protect Deen. It is also a consolation for the believers in this sense that Allah Ta‘ala is informing them in advance that they will be tested with different calamities in terms of loss of wealth and lives and hearing abusive and insulting statements from others. Hence, if a person already knows that these things are bound to happen, he will be mentally prepared for it by accepting that these are expected to happen in a believer’s life and he will not become overwhelmed with the situation. Rather, he will understand that all this is but a trial for him.
Allah Ta‘ala then explains that the best course for a person is to observe restraint, be patient and keep to their real objective in life which is to achieve the perfect state of taqwa. In doing so, a person will not be greatly affected by the abusive statements of the disbelievers nor will he be too concerned to reply to them.
We learn from this verse, that when people hurl unnecessary abusive statements at us or pass insulting statements regarding us, then we should not bother responding to them, as it is said, “Silence is the best answer to a fool.” Rather, we should be patient and focus on more constructive things in life. For indeed Allah Ta‘ala’s help is always with those who are patient and their reward is solely by Allah Ta‘ala.
(Adapted from Ma‘aariful Quraan vol. 2, pg. 255, Tafseer Qurtubi vol. 5, pg. 455 and Roohul Ma‘aani vol. 3, pg. 230)