I've been doing reading about the rise of Islam and its effects on medieval Christians, one thing I came across was a law stated in the pact of Umar that said "we shall not teach the Qur'an to our children".
From what I gathered the laws stated in the pact of Umar came to be a universal way of dealing with all non-Muslims in the Islamic empire so I assume this law would apply to any religious groups. If this is correct, then why weren't Christians or Jews allowed to teach their children the Qur'an? Is it simply that the Qur'an was only supposed to be read by Muslims or were they trying to keep cultures separated?
If anyone wants to read the rest of the pact of Umar (or at least the version I've been reading) you can find it here
I can think of two possible reasons for this, which may have contributed to the rule. I can't however, say for certain that all three are correct.
Firstly, the Pact of Umar was applied through out the Islam world which was predominately made up of conquered regions, yet the conquerors weren't enormously interested in conversion. Secondly, some Muslims feared that knowledge of the Qur'an could lead to Christians and Jews making light of Islam, or they objected to those groups learning their language.
On the first instance, I suspect that this may have something to do with 'backsliding' from a conversion. While actively seeking converts wasn't a goal, they wouldn't turn away willing followers. However, if a person hadn't converted to Islam, what interest would they have in reading the Qur'an or teaching it? Add to this the context: these Christians and Jews were often living in their own lands, ruled over by invaders. If you were reading the Qur'an, you would probably be seen as either a suck up, or an insurgent of some sort.
The second reason also pertains to the status quo of conquered lands. If you have a somewhat stable hierarchy with a delicate balance being maintained between invaders and native peoples, then the ruling population doesn't want anything undermining them so that they can keep a firm grasp of that power. It's most likely for this reason that it was seen best to keep knowledge of the Qur'an known only to Muslims.