Muslims - enemies of the West

Islamophobia engendered, nurtured and conveyed an ‘enemy image’ of Islam and Muslims, insofar as they are perceived as the incarnation of Islam. ... an ‘enemy image’ is ‘a belief held by certain group that its security and basic values are directly and seriously threatened by some other group. An enemy image cannot consist only in feelings of dislike or antipathy; it always involves the possibility of violence and destruction. It is a matter of existence and survival’ (Luostarinen 1989, emphasis in original). In this case, Islamophobia would be a hostile attitude towards Islam and Muslims based on the image of Islam as an enemy, as a threat to ‘our’ well-being and even to ‘our’ survival.

Quoted from: Fernando Bravo López (2011): Towards a definition of Islamophobia:
approximations of the early twentieth century, Ethnic and Racial Studies, 34:4, 556-573 [article available online Nov 2010].