Why were the muslims able to make such great contributions and how did they impact the world?

Muslims, from an early time, were the taught about the importance of reading and writing. As this was the only way they could read and understand the Quran.

Explanation:

Unlike other religions, Muslims did not have a formal clergy and every man or woman could learn the quran themselves. Furthermore, the Quran clearly pushed its readers to explore the world, study and seek knowledge.

This built a culture of education and many Muslim scholars researched old Greek and Roman knowledge, and developed their own from it.

Within a couple of centuries, the Muslim world arose as the center of Global Knowledge and culture.