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In this podcast, Stefania Smirnova discusses Islamophobia and the misconceptions surrounding Islam. Islamophobia is defined as the unjustified fear, hostility, and discrimination against Islam and Muslims. Misunderstandings and stereotypes fueled by misinformation and biases contribute to this fear. The negative image of Islam in the media often associates it with terrorism and violence. Historical roots of Islamophobia can be traced back to conflicts like the Bosnian War and the Ottoman Empire. These stereotypes persist today, leading to discriminatory policies such as hijab bans. The podcast aims to challenge these misconceptions and provide a different perspective based on information from scholars. Hello everyone, this is Stefania Smirnova, welcome to my podcast, and today we're going to discuss a touchy, but I hope interesting topic, which is Islamophobia and Islam itself. There are so many misconceptions about this topic, but before we get into them, let's define Islamophobia. So according to Abdul Rashid, in the article European Muslims, Islamophobia is, quote, the unjustified fear, hostility and discrimination against Islam and Muslims, end quote. So this fear often comes from misunderstandings, stereotypes caused by misinformation and biases, and it was noted in the Islamic Worldview by Robert Dick and Brenda Robinson that this negative image in the media, especially in the West, leads some people to associate Islam with terrorist attacks and link it with violence and rigidity. For instance, a EU government survey in the UK revealed such statistics. 58% of respondents associated Islam with extremism, 50% with terrorism, and only 13% associated Islam with peace. So according to Kaya Sardar, in Islamophobia in Western Europe, the roots of Islamophobia have historical foundation, which is depiction of Muslims as the other in the context of Ottoman Empire and conflicts such as the Bosnian War. And unfortunately, these stereotypes are alive even today in the most tolerant parts of our world. As described by Abdul Rashid, this creates challenges in preserving Islamic cultural values, education and social issues. So this creates discriminatory policies like hijab bans, Moscow instruction restrictions. These misunderstandings about Islam persist because of biased reporting and ignorance about Islamic terms and values. And today I would like to show another perspective to my audience to weaken negative attitudes and reveal the truth that anyone can actually find with an open heart, with an open mind, and just our world information database. So let's discuss some misconceptions about Islam and challenge them using information from scholars.
