A number of papers on the sociology of Islam are based on an assumption about the domination of a negative, or at least “problematic” nature of Islam. Many authors connect such image with terrorism, violence and migration. A securitization of Islam occurs not only in the media, but even in academic research through reproducing the Orientalist approach. Despite the fact that the narrative of Islamophobia is firmly entrenched in many types of discourse about Islam, the simple question remains unanswered: how is this happening? In this paper we try to answer this question by studying the materials of the Russian media. What are the mechanisms of creating the discourse of Islamophobia? How is the opposition of traditional and radical Islam being created? How important is the agenda of the Islam experts our in forging knowledge about Islam? The main goal of this work is to show the mechanism that makes Islamophobia a hegemonic discourse in the Russian media.