the majority of the wealthy; for Abraham, David, Solomon, Joseph, and others like them were superior to most of the poor, while John, Jesus, and others like them were superior to most of the wealthy.

The universal criterion, then, is piety, as Allah Most High says:

“Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you.”

Thus, whoever is more pious is superior in absolute terms. If two people are equal in piety, they are equal in merit, regardless of whether both—or either one of them—(1) are rich or poor, or one is rich and the other poor; whether both—or either one of them—(2) are Arab or non-Arab, Qurashī or Hāshimī; or whether one belongs to one category and the other to another.

Even if one of them is assumed to possess some basis for merit and circumstances in which it might be expected [that the other lacks] (3), if that person has [indeed] (4) attained the merit itself, he is superior to one who has not attained it, even if the latter is more capable of doing so. Thus, a learned person is better than an ignorant one, even if the ignorant person is more capable of acquiring knowledge; a righteous person is superior to a wicked one, even if the wicked person is more capable of righteousness; and a weak believer is better than a strong disbeliever, even if the latter has a greater capacity for faith than the strong believer. In this way, many doubts that arise in matters such as these are dispelled (5).