Seething, whining, you know the drill. Pope’s speech stirs Muslim anger. (Hat tip: sngnsgt.)

Muslim religious leaders have accused Pope Benedict XVI of quoting anti-Islamic remarks during a speech at a German university this week.

Questioning the concept of holy war, he quoted a 14th-Century Christian emperor who said Muhammad had brought the world only “evil and inhuman” things.

A senior Pakistani Islamic scholar, Javed Ahmed Gamdi, said jihad was not about spreading Islam with the sword. Turkey’s top religious official asked for an apology for the “hostile” words. In Indian-administered Kashmir, police seized copies of newspapers which reported the Pope’s comments to prevent any tension.

A Vatican spokesman, Father Frederico Lombardi, said he did not believe the Pope’s comments were meant as a harsh criticism of Islam. …

The Pope is due to visit Turkey in November and the Turkish response was swift and strong, the BBC’s Sarah Rainsford reports from Istanbul. Religious leader Ali Bardakoglu said the Pope’s comments represented what he called an “abhorrent, hostile and prejudiced point of view”.

Whilst Muslims might express their criticism of Islam and of Christianity, he argued, they would never defame the Holy Bible or Jesus Christ. He said he hoped the Pope’s speech did not reflect “hatred in his heart” against Islam.

Many Turks see Benedict as a Turkophobe and commentators call his words just before the holy month of Ramadan “ill-timed and ill-conceived”, our correspondent adds.

UPDATE at 9/14/06 9:20:52 pm:

More seething courtesy of al-Reuters, where they identify jihadist cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi only as a “prominent Muslim scholar:” Muslim leaders condemn Pope’s speech, want apology. (Hat tip: Allahpundit.)

In Qatar, prominent Muslim scholar Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi rejected the Pope’s comments and said Islam was a religion of peace and reason.

“Muslims have the right to be angry and hurt by these comments from the highest cleric in Christianity,” Qaradawi told Al Jazeera television. “We ask the pope to apologize to the Muslim nation for insulting its religion, its Prophet and its beliefs.”