City of Toronto in hot water over financing a mural depicting a Jihadi battle cry. Photo Toronto City Hall: by Paolo Costa Baldi. License: GFDL/CC-BY-SA 3.0

TORONTO, CANADA: City taxpayers in Toronto are up in arms after discovering their taxes paid for a mural which even muslims say depicts a Jihadi war cry. Jihad is a holy war which is considered the sacred duty of muslims and is the basis of much of the conflict with Muslim extremists today.

The two-storey mural is located on a building housing a mosque. Toronto city hall contributed $17,000 to the project initiated by a woman’s immigration group in the city.

The controversy surrounds the large Arabic words which quote a verse from the Qur’an (chapter 61:13). The verse speaks of Allah’s blessing and promise of victory over the infidels. 

While some Muslims discount the words an innocent poetry, others like Muslim Canadian Congress spokesman Salim Ahmad says the verse has more serious overtones. So serious, his organization has launched a petition to have the City of Toronto remove the mural. According to Ahmad, the verse is used by modern Jihadists as a battle cry.

Toronto Sun columnist, Tarek Fatah — who describes himself as a moderate Muslim — said the chosen verse is used by the Taliban and Al-Qaida as a battle slogan. Even the Pakistani military uses it. Fatah further says the “innocent” verse was inscribed on the swords of ancient Islamic armies engaged in Jihad. Apparently because of the way the verse in question is written, it actually promises victory for future battles as well — which explains its popularity with today’s extremists.

Toronto City bureaucrats are reportedly taking a second look at the mural — whether they will actually do anything about it is another matter.

Read more (both articles provide an image of the mural):

• Jihadi battle cry on Toronto mural (Toronto Sun)
• City probes publicly-funded mural critics say promotes holy war (Toronto Sun)