Should he marry someone who is above him in terms of social status?
Question

                I am a young Muslim man and praise be to Allaah I want to keep myself chaste by marrying a Muslim sister whose social status is above mine. What is the Islamic ruling on that?.
Praise be to Allah.Firstly: 
If a man is 
    able to provide the mahr (dowry) and can afford the expenses of marriage and 
    the maintenance of his wife and household, then he is compatible with her, 
    according to the majority of scholars, both those who regard wealth as a 
    condition of compatibility, such as the Hanafis and Hanbalis, and those who 
    do not, such as the Maalikis and the Shaafa’is according to the more correct 
    view among them. 
As for the 
    view that the husband must be rich on the same level as the wife, this is a 
    less correct view that was held by some of the fuqaha’. 
But the 
    correct view, based on the evidence, is that compatibility does not matter 
    except with regard to religious commitment, as is the view of Maalik (may 
    Allaah have mercy on him). Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) 
    said: Chapter on the ruling of the Prophet  (peace and blessings of 
    Allaah be upon him) on compatibility in marriage. Allaah, may He be exalted, 
    says (interpretation of the meaning): 
“O 
    mankind! We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into 
    nations and tribes, that you may know one another. Verily, the most 
    honourable of you with Allaah is that (believer) who has At‑Taqwa [i.e. he 
    is one of the Muttaqoon (the pious)]”

    [al-Hujuraat 49:13]
“The 
    believers are nothing else than brothers (in Islamic religion)”

    [al-Hujuraat 49:10]
“The 
    believers, men and women, are Awliyaa’ (helpers, supporters, friends, 
    protectors) of one another”

    [al-Tawbah 9:71]
The Prophet 
     (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “There is no 
    superiority of an Arab over a non-Arab, or of a non-Arab over an Arab, or of 
    a white man over a black man, or of a black man over a white man, except in 
    terms of taqwa. The people are from Adam, and Adam is from dust.” Narrated 
    by al-Tirmidhi (3270); classed as hasan by al-Albaani. 
In 
    al-Tirmidhi (1085) it is narrated that the Prophet  (peace and blessings 
    of Allaah be upon him) said: “If there comes to you one with whose religious 
    commitment and character you are pleased, then marry (your female relative 
    under your care) to him, for if you do not do that there will be tribulation 
    in the land and great mischief.” They said: O Messenger of Allaah, even if 
    he is such and such? He said: “If there comes to you one with whose 
    religious commitment and character you are pleased, then marry (your female 
    relative under your care) to him,” three times. Classed as hasan by 
    al-Albaani. 
The Prophet 
     (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said to Banu Bayaadah: 
    “Give (your female relative) to Abu Hind in marriage and ask for his 
    daughters in marriage” and he was a cupper. 
The Prophet 
     (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) married Zaynab bint Jahsh 
    al-Qurashiyyah to his freed slave Zayd ibn Haarithah, and he married 
    Faatimah bint Qays al-Fahriyyah al-Qurashiyyah to Usaamah, the son of Zayd, 
    and he married Bilaal ibn Rabaah to the sister of ‘Abd al-Rahmaan ibn ‘Awf. 
Allaah says 
    (interpretation of the meaning): 
“Good 
    statements are for good people (or good women for good men) and good people 
    for good statements (or good men for good women)”
[al-Noor 
    24:26] 
“then 
    marry (other) women of your choice”
[al-Nisa’ 
    4:3]
What is 
    implied by the ruling of the Prophet  (peace and blessings of Allaah be 
    upon him) is that attention should be paid to compatibility in religious 
    commitment first and foremost. So a Muslim woman should not be given in 
    marriage to a kaafir, or a chaste woman to an immoral man. The Qur’aan and 
    Sunnah do not pay attention to any compatibility beyond that. It is haraam 
    for a Muslim woman to marry an evil adulterer. No attention is paid to 
    lineage, profession, wealth, or whether the man is free or a slave. It is 
    permissible for a lowly slave to marry a free woman of noble birth, if he is 
    chaste and Muslim. And it is permissible for a non-Qurashi to marry a 
    Qurashi woman, and for a non-Haashimi to marry a Haashimi woman, and for 
    poor men to marry rich women. 
And he said: 
    The fuqaha’ differed as to the definition of compatibility. Maalik said, 
    according to the apparent view of his madhhab, that it refers to religious 
    commitment. According to a report narrated from him: It means three things: 
    Being similar in terms of religious commitment; both being slaves or both 
    being free; and compatibility with regard to physical soundness. End quote 
    from Zaad al-Ma’aad (5/144). See also al-Mughni (7/27) and 
    al-Mawsoo’ah al-Fiqhiyyah (34/271). 
Secondly: 
Social level 
    may refer to lineage, wealth, education, profession or job, or it may mean 
    all of them. 
If a man’s 
    religious commitment and character are pleasing, then he is compatible with 
    the woman, no matter what her social level, according to the more correct 
    view, as noted above. This is the basic principle and the ruling of 
    sharee’ah. But it remains to examine the situation of each suitor and 
    whether he is suitable to marry one whose social level is above him, or 
    not. 
It seems – 
    and Allaah knows best – that if the difference is great in terms of lineage, 
    wealth, education and profession, that it is not advisable to go ahead with 
    this marriage, because there are usually problems from the woman or her 
    family. There may be differences in lifestyle and the ways in which they do 
    things, which may put the spouses off one another. 
But if the 
    difference is small, or it has to do with one area but can be made up for in 
    another area, then there is nothing wrong with it in that case, such as if 
    the husband is poor but he is highly qualified, or he is qualified for a 
    decent job, or some of his family are of high standing and so on. 
Then there 
    are cases in which the woman and her family are so righteous that they are 
    above looking at material concerns and measuring people thereby, and they 
    may want to choose a husband who is poor because of his righteousness and so 
    on. But it is better if the husband is the one who is of a higher status.   
Whatever the 
    case, the precise advice in each case depends on complete knowledge of both 
    parties and their families. Perhaps you can seek advice from someone whom 
    you trust in your community. 
We ask 
    Allaah to help you and guide you. 
And Allaah 
    knows best.