Islamic emphasis on literacy made enslaved West African Muslims literate in Arabic

Evidence

Enslaved Muslims stood out among the slaves in their literacy in Arabic. Because their religion emphasized reading and learning, Muslims in West Africa had a higher literacy rate than non-Muslims. Small schools taught memorization and recitation of the Quran, and higher-level schools taught Arabic so that students could read the Quran and understand the tenets of the faith. Consequently, many of the Muslims brought to the United States (and other parts of the New World) could read the Quran and continued to practice their faith. Some of them were well-traveled, cosmopolitan, and multilingual urban men. — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 571