One of the great paradoxes of Western Civilization and it's ability for technological advancement is based on secularism and a separation of the divine from the scientific while at the same time embracing the religious as a spiritual necessity for human existence.
Another great partadox is that while Capitalism can exist in a tryrannical or dictatorial setting, democracy and individual liberty cannot exist without it.
What made possible the explosion of the scientific age in Western Civilization was the separation of secular matters and pursuits from the shackles and constraints imposed by the Church in our daily lives. This was the period known as the Renaissance and the Reformation.
Other civilizations have always felt more comfortable in the changeless certainty of backwardness. It is for that reason that they are backward and no excuse will suffice to explain it until they too go through their renaissance and period of scientific discovery and inquiry.
Man and civilizations advance only when there are those willing to question the world around them and take nothing for granted, including authority.
Until there is a major secular movement in Islam they will remain in the 10th century culturally and no more advanced than are the cultures of Canibalism and headhunters.
It is well to remember that Arab culture was on the rise when Islam came onto the scene. It was Arab culture NOT "islamic" culture that was responsible for algebra. It was "Arab" culture" NOT "Islamic" culture that contributed to the most advanced medicine of the age. As Islam became more prevalent and intrusive into the daily lives it precipitated the retardation of all the cultures it came into contact with. It literaly froze these cultures in the period in which Ilsam first impacted.