The literacy and respect for learning was very high in early centuries of Islam. For some first hand relation, I recommend reading Ibn Sina’s autobiography, who

The literacy and respect for learning was very high in early centuries of Islam. For some first hand relation, I recommend reading Ibn Sina’s autobiography, who described lively market for books in even minor towns, huge libraries maintained by kings, the reception and great respect he received from them etc. For comparison, literacy and development in 11th century Europe was really rather low, as it only started to recover from the civilizational collapse after the fall of the western Roman Empire. However, respect for learning in Islamic world started to deteriorate around the time of the fall of the caliphate, while it kept increasing in Europe, and by the time of reformation in 16th century, Europe was significantly ahead: spread of reformation was both dependent on widespread literacy, and it also was responsible for its spread.