Mehmed Ali initially accepted illiterate officers due to time pressure

Evidence

In the early years of the army Mehmed Ali could not afford to wait till all his officers learned how to read and write. He wrote to Ibrahim Pasha telling him that “although the European armies have literate officers and engineers, we cannot afford to do the same when we establish our new regiments.” Eventually, however, literacy, and (oddly enough) good handwriting became a condition for promotion, and it was decided that all candidates should provide samples of their handwriting for the Pasha to make sure that they were indeed literate. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 914