and ‘Uthmān ibn ‘Affān, will enter Paradise before many of the poor, and that they are superior to Abū Dharr and Abū Hurayra. Moreover, entering Paradise earlier does not indicate a higher rank within it. The same applies to reports that the poor constitute the majority of the people of Paradise: the poor are more numerous than the wealthy, and the praiseworthy among them outnumber the praiseworthy among the wealthy. The question is not which group is more numerous, but which is superior—that is, greater in reward. We have already explained the grounds for greater reward in this matter.

The strongest argument advanced by those who consider poverty preferable to wealth is that the poor face an easier reckoning and less questioning. A person with wealth must be asked how he acquired it and whether he fulfilled the obligations due on it. He will also be questioned about his enjoyment of permissible food and clothing, as Allah Most High explicitly says:

“Then, on that Day, you will surely be asked about the pleasures you enjoyed” [al-Takāthur: 8].

They also cite the Prophet’s words to his Companions, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: “You will surely be asked about the pleasures of this day.” This concerned a meal Abū al-Haytham ibn al-Tayyihān prepared for them: barley bread, meat, and fresh water.

This, too, provides no evidence for their position. It is plainly evident that someone who is questioned about whether he fulfilled an obligation and is found to have fulfilled it is superior to someone upon whom it was not obligatory and who is not questioned about it. He is rewarded for fulfilling his obligations just as he is rewarded for his voluntary deeds. Those who decline to prefer either poverty or wealth refrain from judging between them—Allah knows best—only because each group has a basis for reward that the other does not, and rewards in this regard