Hawzah News Agency (Qom, Iran) - This one-day conference which was held Wednesday, ۷the February ۲۰۱۸, started with participation of scholars and clerics, international figures and academic members from European and Asian universities such as Italy, England, Czech Republic, Netherlands.

At the beginning of this conference, Hojjat al-Islam Dr Malek Afzali, Director of the Al-Hikmah Institute, said greeting and welcome to guests.

In his speech, he started: "Islam like all religions in the world is the source of peace and empathy, and fights against discrimination and injustice. However, over the past decades, we have witnessed the spread of Islamophobia in various countries, especially the continent of Europe."

He added: "The most important reason of this phenomenon is accusations against Muslims, labeling them terrorists. Also historical background of the relations of some Muslim and Christian groups in Europe back in the thirteenth century, the increasing popularity of Islam between youth and their tendency toward Islam in the West right now, the spread of the ideology of political Islam and the violent actions of hardliners, Salafis, and Takfiris, and also Zionist media propaganda and finally speeches delivered by anti-Islam political parties and personalities are the main reason of Islamophobia."

At the end of his speech, he said that neither of these two groups (Islamophobiacs and hardliners) understood true Islam, adding that both of them have misinterpreted Islamic religious texts.