Please mod not u ... We all know the difference between muttaqi and a show of mullah type a$$ holes ... I didn't say Mullah rather say "Mullah Type" because Mullah is a distinction of a people like Mullah Ali Qari not some stupid a$$ sh!t like we are watching now a days doing nothing for good ...
Disagree completely, Only the supreme authority who judges us all has the idea of who is a Muttaqi and who is a pretender.
We have zero discretion on that. One can be pious all their life and make one little mistake which will be their downfall. Or one can be a criminal all their life and do one deed that is their salvation.
As for the Mullah's, the term had its respect back then. It has little now. The term Maulvi was the highest given to one in education; now an uneducated fellow with rudimentary knowledge of religion is termed as such because he is forced to sit in the mosque and lead the prayer since life found him no better avenue.