A digital marketing specialist and an Educator-cum-Trainer. He has involved himself in community organisations and matters from a young age, and through his writings, continues to speak of social and cultural reform to this day. He is also the founding moderator of this forum (1996).
Intelligence, Wealth and Responsibility
Modern capitalist societies often assume that financial success is the clearest evidence of intelligence, hard work and personal worth. The wealthy are frequently treated as society’s most capable people, while those with lower incomes may be viewed as less ambitious or less deserving. However, the Swedish study discussed in Ross Pomeroy’s article (The highest earning men aren’t especially intelligent. What explains their success? February 13, 2023) challenges this assumption. Using cognitive assessment and income data from approximately 59,000 Swedish men, researchers found that intelligence was strongly associated with higher earnings up to a certain point. Beyond roughly Euros 60,000 a year, cognitive ability levelled off, and the top one per cent of earners scored slightly lower than those immediately beneath them.
This finding does not mean that intelligence is unimportant. Education, reasoning, creativity and technical ability clearly help people obtain better opportunities. Nevertheless, intelligence alone does not explain who reaches the highest economic positions. Family wealth, social networks, inherited advantages, timing and luck can be equally influential. A businessperson may become extremely rich because a product receives unexpected publicity, while another person with similar or greater ability may never receive the same opportunity. High-paying jobs may also depend more on ownership, influence and access than on intellectual difficulty. In this sense, financial success is not always a pure reward for merit.
One important question is why societies treat financial success as the only meaningful form of success. Money is visible, measurable and easily compared. A salary, house or business can be displayed publicly, whereas kindness, emotional support, teaching, moral courage and community service are harder to quantify. Media and advertising reinforce the idea that happiness and achievement are demonstrated through luxury and consumption. As a result, people may confuse being rich with being wise, influential with being morally good, and being famous with being valuable. Yet a society depends not only on entrepreneurs and investors but also on teachers, nurses, parents, artists, religious workers and volunteers.
Self-centred attitudes can sometimes contribute to financial growth. People who concentrate strongly on personal advancement may work longer hours, take greater risks, negotiate aggressively and protect their own interests. They may also be willing to build powerful networks and make decisions without being distracted by the needs of others. These qualities can be rewarded in competitive markets. However, when ambition becomes selfishness, it can encourage exploitation, dishonesty and indifference to social consequences. A person may accumulate wealth by reducing workers’ rights, avoiding responsibility or using relationships only for personal gain. Therefore, financial achievement should be judged not merely by its size but also by the methods used to obtain it and the effects it produces.
The Islamic understanding of success offers a broader and more balanced standard. The Qur’an does not condemn lawful wealth, work or material comfort. Instead, it teaches that worldly resources should serve a higher moral purpose. Qur’an 28:77 instructs believers to seek the Hereafter through what Allah has given them, without forgetting their share of the world, while also doing good and avoiding corruption. Wealth, therefore, is a trust and an opportunity, not proof of superior human worth. True success includes faith, justice, useful service, self-discipline and accountability before God.
The sayings of the Holy Prophet Muhammad reinforce this distinction. He taught that “wealth is not in having many possessions,” but in the richness or contentment of the soul, a teaching recorded in both Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim. This principle directly challenges the belief that endless accumulation represents success. A wealthy person who is controlled by greed may be spiritually poor, while a person with modest means who is grateful, generous and content may possess genuine richness. Similarly, Imam Ali is widely associated with teachings that connect justice with human well-being and warn against allowing wealth to control one’s life. In this perspective, intelligence and money are gifts whose value depends on how responsibly they are used.
This framework is especially relevant to donations and public pledges. In many communities, wealthy individuals gain influence by funding schools, religious institutions, campaigns, charities or local projects. Donations may be tied to conditions such as public recognition, control over decisions, political support, preferential treatment or future contracts. Such contributions can help society, but they can also turn assistance into a form of ownership. The Qur’an warns believers not to destroy charity through reminders of generosity, hurtful words or giving merely to be seen by others (2:264). Charity is therefore ethically weakened when it humiliates recipients or becomes a demand for obedience.
Financially successful people consequently dominate political discourse, even at the level of neighbourhoods, religious communities and small organisations. Their money gives them access to leaders, publicity and decision-making spaces. While resources can be useful, wealth should not automatically create authority. A healthy society must listen equally to the poor, professionals, workers, women, young people and those who provide unpaid care. The Swedish study reminds us that high income is not a reliable measure of intelligence; Islamic teachings add that it is not a complete measure of success either. The better goal is prosperity joined with humility, justice, generosity and responsibility.
Recent posts
- Al-Husayn on Interfaith Dialogue and Religious Tolerance
Al-Husayn on Interfaith Dialogue and Religious Tolerance by Dr Murtaza Akber Hameer Modern capitalist societies often assume that financial success is the clearest evidence of intelligence, hard work and personal worth. The wealthy are frequently treated as society’s most capable people, while those with lower incomes may be viewed as less ambitious or less deserving. However, the Swedish study discussed in Ross Pomeroy’s article challenges this assumption. Using cognitive assessment and income data from approximately 59,000 Swedish men, researchers found that intelligence was strongly associated with higher earnings up to a certain point. Beyond roughly €60,000 a year, cognitive ability levelled off, and the top one percent of earners scored slightly lower than those immediately beneath them. - Rethinking Success
Rethinking Success by Mohamedarif Suleman Modern capitalist societies often assume that financial success is the clearest evidence of intelligence, hard work and personal worth. The wealthy are frequently treated as society’s most capable people, while those with lower incomes may be viewed as less ambitious or less deserving. However, the Swedish study discussed in Ross Pomeroy’s article challenges this assumption. Using cognitive assessment and income data from approximately 59,000 Swedish men, researchers found that intelligence was strongly associated with higher earnings up to a certain point. Beyond roughly €60,000 a year, cognitive ability levelled off, and the top one percent of earners scored slightly lower than those immediately beneath them. - Mir Anis and the Legacy of Marsiya
The Timeless Joy of Books by Husseinali Walimohamed Datoo Books have been among my most loyal companions for as long as I can remember. They walked beside me through childhood in Tanzania – in dusty classrooms, quiet evenings at home, and moments of youthful curiosity. Later, during my student years in the United Kingdom, books became gateways to entirely new worlds. I discovered the charm of second-hand bookshops and the unforgettable magic of browsing through Foyles in Holborn, London – once regarded as the largest bookshop in the world – where the scent of paper and ink carried a special kind of joy
