The view on one who says “If my Lord calls me to account for my stinginess I will call Him to account for His generosity.”
Question

                How sound or otherwise is the story that is repeated on many websites and in many books, about the Bedouin who met the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and said to him: “If my Lord calls me to account for my stinginess I will call Him to account for His generosity; if He calls me to account for my sins, I will call Him to account for His pardon; if He calls me to account for my errors, I will call Him to account for His mercy”? If it is not saheeh, is it permissible to repeat such phrases?.
Praise be to Allah.The general 
    approach which the Muslim should follow with regard to what he hears or 
    reads is to try and find out how sound it is before basing any knowledge or 
    action on it. This is what Allaah has enjoined in His Book, as He says 
    (interpretation of the meaning): 
“O you who 
    believe! If a Faasiq (liar — evil person) comes to you with any news, verify 
    it”
[al-Hujuraat 
    49:6]
The Prophet 
     (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) also warned against 
    accepting everything that is published, announced or broadcast, because 
    transmission and reporting is a trust which should be fulfilled properly, 
    and that can only be done by checking and verifying.  
The Prophet 
     (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “It is sufficient 
    lying for a man to speak of everything that he hears.” Narrated by Muslim 
    (5). This story has not been narrated by any scholar in a hadeeth, and no 
    da’eef (weak) isnaad is known for it, let alone any saheeh isnaad. The fault 
    in its text is obvious, because even though it is not far-fetched to imagine 
    that a Bedouin may utter such words about Allaah, may He be exalted – due to 
    their ignorance and harshness – it is impossible to imagine that the Prophet 
     (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) would hear such words that 
    indicate poor etiquette towards Allaah, may He be exalted, and approve of 
    them or remain silent about them, let alone weep in approval of them as they 
    say in this story. 
Allaah, may He be 
    glorified and exalted, loves people to be humble in asking of Him and in 
    turning to Him, and He loves sincerity in humbling oneself before Him and 
    worshipping Him, and acknowledging one’s weakness, incapability, sin and 
    shortcomings. 
Thus Adam (peace be upon 
    him) said in his du’aa’: 
“They said: ‘Our Lord! 
    We have wronged ourselves. If You forgive us not, and bestow not upon us 
    Your Mercy, we shall certainly be of the losers’”
[al-A’raaf 7:23]
And Nooh (peace be 
    upon him) said:
“O my Lord! I seek 
    refuge with You from asking You that of which I have no knowledge. And 
    unless You forgive me and have mercy on me, I would indeed be one of the 
    losers”
[Hood 11:47]
And our Prophet  
    (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) taught us to express humility 
    and submission, and to admit our sins in our du’aa’. 
It was narrated from 
    Shaddaad ibn Aws (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet  
    (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: 
“Shall I not tell you of 
    the best of prayers for forgiveness? 
    ‘Allaahumma anta rabbi la ilaaha illa anta, Khalaqtani wa 
    ana ‘abduka wa ana ‘ala ‘ahdika wa wa’dika ma astata’t. A’oodhu bika min 
    sharri ma sana’tu, aboo’u laka bi ni’matika ‘alayya wa a’tarifu bi dhunoobi, 
    faghfir li dhunoobi innahu laa yaghfiru’l-dhunooba illaa anta (O Allaah, 
    You are my Lord. None has the right to be worshipped but You. You created me 
    and I am Your slave, and I am faithful to my covenant and my promise (to 
    You) as much as I can. I seek refuge with You from all the evil I have done. 
    I acknowledge before You all the blessings You have bestowed upon me, and I 
    confess to You all my sins. So I entreat You to forgive my sins, for nobody 
    can forgive sins except You).’ Whoever says this when evening comes and the 
    decree (i.e., death) comes to him before morning comes, will be among 
    the people of Paradise, and whoever says it when morning comes, and 
    the decree (i.e., death) comes to 
    him before 
    evening comes, will be among the people of Paradise.”
Al-Bukhaari (6306). 
This is the etiquette of 
    du’aa’ that Allaah, may He be glorified and exalted, loves; this is the 
    etiquette of the Prophets and Messengers; it is not right for a person to be 
    harsh or insolent in addressing the Creator, may He be glorified, by saying, 
    “If He calls me to account I shall call Him to account.” 
Standing before Allaah 
    and addressing Him is a very serious matter and the slave is weak and in 
    great need of Allaah. It is not befitting for the slave to address his Lord 
    with harsh words. Even if his intention is sound, the slave should still 
    speak in a humble manner. 
The point is that this 
    hadeeth is false and fabricated, and it is not permissible to narrate it or 
    attribute it to the Prophet  (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon 
    him). Similarly, it is not permissible for a person to address his Lord in 
    this manner that is attributed to the Bedouin, rather the Muslim must use 
    words of submission which reflect his true status and position. 
Shaykh Haatim al-Shareef 
    said:  
The hadeeth mentioned is 
    an example of the kind of ahaadeeth that show obvious signs of being 
    fabricated and forged. It contains poor language, weak composition and silly 
    ideas, and anyone who has any knowledge of the Sunnah of the Prophet  
    (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and its noble essence and 
    eloquence will have no doubt that this cannot be a saheeh hadeeth from the 
    Prophet  (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). I could not find 
    this version of it, and I wish that the questioner had told us of the source 
    from which he found this hadeeth, so that we could warn people against it. 
    But Abu Haamid al-Ghazaali (may Allaah have mercy on him), as was his wont, 
    narrated a false hadeeth in Ihya’ ‘Uloom al-Deen (4/130) which is 
    similar in content to the hadeeth asked about here. In it, it says that a 
    Bedouin said to the Messenger  (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon 
    him): O Messenger of Allaah, who is in charge of bringing people to account 
    on the Day of Resurrection? He  (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon 
    him) said: “Allaah, may He be blessed and exalted.” He said: He Himself? He 
    said: “Yes.” The Bedouin smiled and the Prophet  (peace and blessings of 
    Allaah be upon him) said: Why are you smiling, O Bedouin? He said: When the 
    Most Generous has the power to punish He will forgive, and when He calls to 
    account He will pardon … 
Al-‘Iraaqi said 
    concerning this hadeeth: I could not find any basis for it. Al-Subki 
    mentioned it among the ahaadeeth for which he could find no isnaad. 
    Takhreej Ahaadeeth al-Ihya’, no. 3466; Tabaqaat al-Shaafa’iyyah 
    al-Kubra, 6/364. 
Nevertheless many texts 
    in the Qur’aan and saheeh Sunnah point to the vastness of Allaah’s mercy and 
    forgiveness, and that He accepts the repentance of the penitent and responds 
    to the prayers of those who seek forgiveness. Allaah says (interpretation of 
    the meaning): 
“And verily, I am indeed 
    forgiving to him who repents, believes (in My Oneness, and associates none 
    in worship with Me) and does righteous good deeds, and then remains constant 
    in doing them (till his death)”
[Ta-Ha 20:82]
“And He it is Who 
    accepts repentance from His slaves, and forgives sins, and He knows what you 
    do”
[al-Shoora 42:25]
“My Mercy embraces all 
    things. That (Mercy) I shall ordain for those who are the Muttaqoon (the 
    pious), and give Zakaah; and those who believe in Our Ayaat (proofs, 
    evidences, verses, lessons, signs and revelations, etc.)”
[al-A’raaf 7:156]
In Saheeh al-Bukhaari 
    (7554) and Saheeh Muslim (2751) it is narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may 
    Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet  (peace and blessings of 
    Allaah be upon him) said: “Allaah wrote a document before He created the 
    universe: My mercy prevails over My wrath.” 
And Allaah knows best. 
    End quote.