Why Don’t Sunnis Advocate Mass Illiteracy?

A standard narrative among traditionalists is that the Prophet Muhammad was illiterate. They claim he could not read or write during the ~63 years he was on this planet. In other words, over the span of twenty years, he was delivering the Quran; he either never took the time to learn to read or write, or was incapable of doing so.

If this is the case, then why don’t the Sunni Ulama advocate for mass illiteracy so they can emulate the Sunnah of the Prophet, as they believe the example they set forth of him through their Hadith and Sunnah is the best? This shows the hypocrisy of the Sunnis themselves, that they ascribe to the Prophet what they wouldn’t want for themselves. So rather than reflecting on their own hypocrisy, they attempt to tarnish the reputation of the Prophet.

Aside from the proof from the verses of the Quran that indicate the Prophet did, in fact, read and write, or from the Sunni sources that demonstartate that this accusation of illiteracy was a later stage development, the narrative carries with it a far more serious charge: it effectively accuses the Prophet of either being mentally deficient or, even worse, of hypocrisy.

According to the Quran, the behavior most loathed by God is hypocrisy.

61:2 O you who believe, why do you say what you do not do? 61:3 Most abominable in the sight of GOD is that you say what you do not do.

If the Prophet were illiterate, yet spent his mission urging people to pursue knowledge, to read, to write, and to educate one another, this would mean—by the Quran’s own definition—that he was guilty of the most abominable behavior.