A local mosque's president and its congregation are alarmed after graffiti apparently questioning the peaceful nature of Islam was spray-painted on one of its walls sometime overnight June 19.

"This is the first time we have a problem of this sort," said Dorval Mosque's president M. Deger. "It cost us $420 to remove (the graffiti), and still you see the traces," he continued.

Faint traces of the graffiti's outline could still be seen last Thursday after a cleanup. The scrawl consisted of a peace sign followed by a question mark and the words "Coran 9:5."

The number refers to a verse in the Koran popularly referred to as "Verse of the Sword." Part of the verse has Allah instructing Mohammed to defend his people against "infidels," and to kill them, if need be.

Dr. Richard Foltz, an associate professor of religion at Concordia University and an expert on Islamic matters, said the controversial verse is likely subject to literal interpretation by people who have an axe to grind with Islam.

According to him, any religion with a holy scripture tends to have its verses interpreted in two different ways. One option is to understand everything literally as it was written, and the other is to take the verse in the context of the situation it was written in.

In this case, Foltz said, Muslim believers had approached Mohammed and asked him how they could fight non-believers who may have been friends or family.

In answer, Allah would have told Mohammed to instruct the believers to fight, regardless of who was in battle, with instructions to back down only if the latter seeked asylum or mercy. However, the verse is often taken out of context, Foltz said. "It can be done in any religion," he added, stating how an Old Testament section asking Jews to attack Canaanites and cut off their foreskins could be presented as an interpretation casting negative light on Judaism if one were to take it literally.

"Most Muslim commentators in history have said that context matters," he added.

According to Deger, the graffiti's contents are not as significant as the fact the act was committed in the first place. "If he wants to communicate, (let him) come and talk to us," Deger said.

He found out about the incident on June 20 at about 7:30 a.m. when a neighbour of the mosque, set in a residential area on Neptune Boulevard, called him upon spotting the writing.

"I didn't see anyone do it," said John Howard. However, he saw the markings and called Deger immediately.

Regardless of one's belief, Howard added, "no one has the right to go and deface another person's property."

Deger said police are investigating the matter. In 2004, he said, the mosque was broken into and robbed. "I caught one of them," he said. "I'll call the police," he said he told him. The teens ran away and the mosque has since avoided problems beyond occasional broken bottles of alcohol left in the parking lot by unruly teens in the area.

"The people who live here are old," Deger said. "They are scared of these things."

Police at Station 5 in Dorval did not return calls for comment as of press time.

Another mosque in Pierrefonds, Mukalah-al Mukarammah, has suffered three vandalism attacks, usually broken windows or doors, since January, with the latest incident at the end of May.