Quarterly Journal of Political
Research in Islamic World

Islamophobia, as an inclusive discourse in the relationship between the West and the Islamic w plays a prominent role in shaping various processes which all arise from a particular basis that is projecting a frightening image of Islam. The origin  of such a phobia can be traced back to the  Christians approach to  Islam during Crusades. Islam has been redefined as the “enemy” in western countries’ foreign policy. certainly, media, as the most important tool to influential public opinion, played a significant role in projecting this image and expanding such  discourse. Thus, Islamophobia must be considered as an inclusive   discourse in the relation with West’s policies about Islam. The present article is intended to answer th question of how  Islamophobia, through backgrounding and foregrounding mechanisms, been transformed to a dominant discourse? In this respect, the process of emergence and solidification of Islamophobia and the way signs have been articulated were scrutinized by the Laclau and Mouffe discourse theory. The innovative aspect of this study was the theoretical and analytical scrutiny of how Islamophobia has become hegemonic as a result of dual processes of foregrounding and backgrounding mechanisms.