Jihadists
JihadistsAFP photo

The municipality of Toronto is looking into complaints regarding a wall mural on the Al Tawakul mosque at the corner of Gerard and Greenwood streets in Little India, reports Shalom Toronto.

The mural was painted with the aid of a $17,000 grant from the municipality, and consists of an ornamentally-written passage from the Quran that encourages holy war against infidels.

Reformists from the Canadian Muslim community published a petition in which they called on the mayor of Toronto to remove the mural, because of the meaning of the quoted verse. They said that terrorist Islamist groups like Al Qaeda, the Taliban and the Pakistani army use the same verse to indoctrinate their fighters.

Tarek Fatah writes in the Toronto Sun that according to Quran scholars, the verse, “assistance from Allah is near and the quick victory assured,” is a blessing from Allah to Muslims who are about to achieve a victory against non-Muslims and conquer enemy territory. “This brings us to the question," he continues, "what is the enemy that the mural in Toronto wants the Muslims to fight against? Where is the non-Arab land that this mural wishes Muslims will conquer and be victorious in? Could it be Canada?”

Lecturers in Toronto University said that the verse is about a historic event in Muslim history and that the word “victory” can be interpreted in different ways, from accomplishments in jihad to overcoming financial woes.