As Steve Jobs personal biography by Walter Isaacson hits bookshops around the world a fierce debate rages about his rank amongst America's greatest innovators. For some, however, Steve Jobs has earned the right to be included amongst the world's top inventors. In any case, Americans feel proud about his achievements and given America's domination of the Nobel Prize, there is strong belief that America's pre-eminence in science and technology is set to continue. Indeed, some would argue that under America's stewardship West will continue to dominate the globe for years to come. But just how true is the assertion that Western thoughts will enjoy unfettered primacy for the foreseeable future.

By scrutinizing the annals of scientific thoughts over the past four centuries it is quite apparent that scientific discoveries or technical innovations fall into two categories namely: revolutionary and evolutionary discoveries. Revolutionary discoveries are associated with a step change in the scientific thoughts of a designated discipline. In other words, the discovery of the idea radically changes the fundamental precepts of the subject, and propels innovation and discoveries to new heights. Progress in the subject is by leaps and bounds, and benefit to humanity is immense.

Evolutionary discoveries are focused on the progressive elaboration of the fundamental principles about a particular subject. The edifice of the subject remains intact, but the application of basic thoughts crosses existing thresholds, and produces a new body of secondary and tertiary concepts that push the boundaries of existing research further. Advancement is small and the benefit to mankind is of diminutive proportions. So in physics its evolutionary moments are many, but its revolutionary moments are very few. Newtonian physics dominated the subject for centuries and was eventually turned on its head by Einstein's theory of relativity. Over a hundred years later, there is yet to be a revolutionary moment. It was Einstein's theory of relativity and its views on the sub-atomic world that paved the way for the discovery of the computer chip and mobile communication technology. Steve Jobs did no more than use computer chips, 3G and WIFI technologies to produce the Apple suite of products such as the iMac, iPhone, iPod and the iPad. The same can be said for other scientific disciplines and it can be argued that in the past 100 years or so the discoveries in science and technology merely evolutionary, a sort of natural progression.

Leaving aside scientific thoughts, the same classification standard can be applied to other disciplines such as philosophy, literature, sociology, politics, economics etc. The subjects of paramount importance are politics and economics, as they have the greatest effect on human thinking and play a pivotal role in the development of science.

A close inspection of Western economic thinking reveals that two men revolutionized economic theory in the West. The first was Adam Smith, regarded by many as the father of capitalism. The second is Karl Marx who developed Communist economic theory as an alternative to capitalism. The rest of the economists hitherto have either based their economic works on these two schools of economy thought. In sum, their collective efforts to date have only produced evolutionary changes.

Although the ideas of Smith and Marx are widely studied, it can be safely said that both are discredited. Communism as an economic model is dead, and Smith's free market ideas are facing a catastrophic crisis of confidence. The aftermath of the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008 has exposed the erroneous nature of the free market and inspired millions to protest against these ideas.

The advancement of Western political thought was dominated by a handful of thinkers and most of them came from the age of enlightenment. In fact, in the past one hundred and thirty years, Western political thinking has stagnated, and presently the West lacks solutions to contemporary political problems. The concepts of nation state, freedom, democracy, international law etc., when applied in practice are found to be flawed and unworkable. The current economic crisis in Europe and the colonial wars in the Muslim world have exposed the fallacy of these ideas.

Hence, the demise of the West has been long in the making. Its political and economic thoughts are gradually losing legitimacy amongst the people of the world, and dying a slow death. As a countermeasure, the West is left with no other option but to employ force both at home and abroad to maintain their hegemony. Once the political and economic thoughts are discredited and abandoned, scientific progress will also come to a halt. The demise of the Soviet Union is an apt example of how when people abandon an ideology, scientific advancement comes to a standstill.

So which nation will take the helm of the leading state after America is dislodged from its perch and Europe follows suit? Some advocate China, Brazil and India as the up and coming nations to lead mankind. But this view is short sighted and lacks thorough analysis. The question is not which nation will lead mankind, but which ideology will lead mankind in the 21st century. China, Brazil and India are fast embracing the very same Western thoughts that are discredited and responsible for West's demise. Hence the problem is one of thoughts and ideology, not people.

Islam is the only ideology that can lead humanity in the 21st century. It has a proven track record of leading mankind in all walks life for a thousand years, and it produced revolutionary thinking for well over five hundred years. The Islamic ummah was blessed with an abundance of revolutionary thinkers, a feat unparalleled in the history of civilizations. And at the head of Islamic thinkers was the messenger of Allah (saw) who was the greatest thinker of all time. He brought the Quran and the Sunnah, so that generations after him would continue and implement the message of Islam. This is what Barnard Shaw said about him: "The world much needs a man with Muhammad's bright thinking. I believe that if a man like Muhammad's caliber were to assume the dictatorship of the modern world he would succeed in solving its problems in a way that would bring it the much needed peace and happiness: I have prophesied about the faith of Muhammad that it would be acceptable to the Europe of tomorrow as it is beginning to be acceptable to the Europe of today."

Abed Mostapha