Did the Qur’an spark a quiet revolution in knowledge?

As-salamu alaykum - did the revelation of the Qur’an set off a deep shift in how people approached knowledge? The Qur’an stirred in Muslims a strong love for learning, reading, and thinking. What had often been kept to rulers and the elite became, in Islam, an important duty for every believer. From the first revealed command “Read,” literacy and study were given religious weight, and the Prophet ﷺ urged the regular recitation and reflection on the Qur’an. Learning stopped being a luxury and became part of worship. Ordinary people began to read, reflect, and seek the truth. Because seeking knowledge is framed in the Qur’an and modelled by the Prophet ﷺ, within a few centuries regions once seen as desert frontiers turned into centres of scholarship. Muslim scholars made major advances in fields like astronomy, mathematics, medicine, chemistry, and geography. Out of that Qur’anic-inspired impulse came the seeds of institutions we still rely on today - libraries, madrasas and hospitals that passed down and expanded knowledge. This wasn’t only a period of great achievements; it helped create habits of thought that shape the modern world. The Qur’anic encouragement to learn played a central role in that long intellectual flowering and continues to guide us. May Allah reward those who seek beneficial knowledge and help us preserve and teach this legacy.