To the majority of people in the western world, Islam is seen as a 'different' religion, although some people often come into contact with Muslim men and women, they fail and in some cases don't care to, understand it. Because of this, a lot of people's perception of Islam comes from the standpoint of ignorance and they treat Muslims and Islamic issues accordingly.
One of the reasons that people have an in-built prejudice to Islam is because of history and tradition. For hundreds of years, from the 8th century Moor conquerors to the Ottoman incursion of Austria in the 17th century, Christianity (a majority of the western world) and Islam have been at odds with each other. The reason for this shared animosity (That has passed from generation to generation), is that throughout history, each religion and people have felt that their God is in fact the only God and that the other faith is filled with Heretics or Infidels. …
