it should have been 24% not 42%.the reason for the decline is nothing to do with Muslims, but with the type of Government that rule in the Muslim world.I will take for instance the Arab countries it is easier for an American or European to move from one Arab country to another and do business than an Arab.how can the Muslim countries advance ,when in the gulf states for instance there are millions of Indians and se Asian workers , at a time when millions of Arabs and Muslims are without a Job.

The muslim world is declining because the world is evolving and Muslims are still stuck with medieval social life science. Because the Quran is more than a religion, it's a book that specify for them how to live.

But how can someone evolve when he doesn't approve that women are equal to men and are entitled to same rights.

It is not the Quran that is wrong but how people interpret and implement it.

in reply to 5.01.the Quran and Islam gave Equal rights to women .but it is culture and customs that are ruling today in the Islamic world.when Muslims were following the teaching of the Quran and following the principal of Islam they were more advanced than the rest of the world.

The tallest building in the world will be topped out in Dubai in the middle of next year. Why does CNN concentrate on the negative side? We have a six year oil boom with record cash inflows. Cities like Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi are under reconstruction. $1.3 trillion in projects - or an 80% of GDP investment in the UAE - there is no decline!

The issue of Women in Islam is deplorable. Evolution is meant in the mind and spiritual level not in the material level. I don't mean to offend Muslims, but Dr. Chapra has a standpoint. After all when someone sees the level of skypecasts hosted by Arabs in the Muslim world compared to other skypecasts he would get an idea of the level of decline affecting the Muslim world nowadays. If a problem isn't tackled how can it be fixed?

I dont think muslims make up 42% of the world. Isnt it 1/5 or 1/6? The muslim world is continuing its decline because all current Islamic governments are not democratic. The people have no rights. Also the economies are not doing well. Yes several countries have HUGE cashflows from oil, but these cashflows are not invested in the society, in Dubai they are invested in just for show skyscrapers and projects. There is no industry that is developed. Who are building all these awesome towers in Dubai? Western engineers and Indian labour so Dubai has nothing to be proud about. Most university graduates in Egypt end up drving taxis, there is no industrialized work. All these Saudi princes need to invest in Arab countries rather than overseas. We need freedom, a well run economic plan, and unfltered education in Islam! The extremists out there are looking at a filtered Islam that is twisted to meet their beliefs. Who cares if they believe women have to wear burkas and thieves have to have their hands cut off. (which I beleive is not true. They must be convinced that violence is not the way to go and instead form a regular political party. they themselves can live the way they want unless it affects the life of another individual.

Religion is part of the decline, since the western civilization became secular, the religious world fell behind. Islamic or other religious countries never went through the enlightmnet era, theyre colonized and occupied for the resources and that way industrialization didnt come until the end of colonization after worlwar II.Thier corrpt governments and leaders take advantage of thier people illiteracy. out of 30 most developed countries 28 are secular. On´ce people in the muslim world learn to think for themselves and learn from good examples they can start to reverse this decline of thier civilization.