While western Europe (except for Ireland) was conquered by pagan barbarians, resulting in the loss of much of what defines civilization, items like the writings of Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, and the mathematics already developed by the Persians and Greeks were preserved and translated into Arabic. Those Arabic texts later made their way via Andalusia (Spain) into western Europe and helped to spawn the Renaissance.
In other words, they transmitted what had already been created but for a time lost by the Europeans. Their original contributions were minimal. Since those times (e.g. in the last 500 years) they have contributed nothing and more recently have done their best to destroy anything which the rest of the world might describe as civilized.
It is true that for a time (the 700's to the 1600's AD) urban life and culture in the regions controled by Muslims was more advanced in many ways than in Europe. This, however, had much more to do with the after effects of the fall of the west under the barbarian hordes and what we now call the "Dark Ages" than anything the Arabs can take direct credit for.