> Back then, an education was limited to basic math and arithmetic for business, a knowledge of Arabic literature and a study of the Quran, so it's very likely that people were very educated in the cities back then.
My point is that this is still legally mandated as the standard in e.g. Pakistan and Arabic literacy rates (even in cities I think) still aren't very high. Just reading the Pakistani constitution I would've assumed high Arabic literacy rates which isn't the case. I think government decrees are weak evidence in favor of higher literacy rates, but I don't think it's enough to conclude "with near certainty" that literacy rates among the general populace would've been significantly higher as a result.
> Even during Dutch rule, Arabic was used to announce royal decrees, until Malay took over with a sense of national identity.
An analogous situation held in Medieval Japan and Korea with respect to Classical Chinese and IIRC scholars don't think the general population was very literate in Classical Chinese as a result.
Pakistan wasn't part of the Arab World proper, even in those times. My comment specifically pertained to Arabic in the Arab World in those times. Pakistan wasn't even Muslim at the time, save for Western Sindh, and rule was largely relegated to Brahmin administrators.
My point is that this is still legally mandated as the standard in e.g. Pakistan and Arabic literacy rates (even in cities I think) still aren't very high. Just reading the Pakistani constitution I would've assumed high Arabic literacy rates which isn't the case. I think government decrees are weak evidence in favor of higher literacy rates, but I don't think it's enough to conclude "with near certainty" that literacy rates among the general populace would've been significantly higher as a result.
> Even during Dutch rule, Arabic was used to announce royal decrees, until Malay took over with a sense of national identity.
An analogous situation held in Medieval Japan and Korea with respect to Classical Chinese and IIRC scholars don't think the general population was very literate in Classical Chinese as a result.