(CNN) -- Pope Benedict XVI came under a hail of criticism from the Islamic
world Friday for comments he made earlier in the week regarding the Prophet
Mohammed and the Muslim faith.

A growing chorus of Muslim leaders have called on the pope to apologize for
the remarks he made in a speech in Germany on Tuesday when he used the terms
"jihad" and "holy war."

Pakistan's National Assembly, parliament's lower house, unanimously passed a
resolution on Friday condemning the pope's comments.

In his speech, Benedict quoted 14th-century Byzantine emperor Manuel II
Paleologus who said, "Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and
there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to
spread by the sword the faith he preached."

Before quoting Paleologus during his address at the University of Regensburg
on Tuesday, the pontiff noted the "brusqueness," or discourteous nature of
the emperor's statement.

"God," the emperor, as the pope quoted, said, "is not pleased by blood --  
and not acting reasonably is contrary to God's nature." (Full story)

A transcript of the pope's remarks obtained by the Associated Press
television network reads: "In the seventh (sura, or chapter of the Quran),
the emperor comes to speak about jihad, holy war.

"The emperor certainly knew that Sura 2, 256, reads: 'No force in matters of
faith'. It is one of the early suras, from a time -- as experts say -- in
which Muhammed himself was still powerless and threatened.

"However, the emperor of course also knew the requirements about the holy
war that were later formulated in the Quran. Without going into details like
the handling of the owners of the scriptures, or non-believers, he (the
emperor) turned to his interlocutors -- in a surprisingly brusque way --  
with the central question after the relationship between religion and
violence.

"He said, I quote, 'Show me just what Muhammed brought that was new, and
there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to
spread by the sword the faith he preached.'"

A Vatican statement said Benedict was not trying offend Muslims with his
remarks.

"It was certainly not the intention of the Holy Father to ... offend the
sensibilities of Muslim faithful," said Federico Lombardi, the Vatican press
officer.

But offense was taken as Islamic groups and governments from across the
globe weighed in.

"The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) regrets the quotations
cited by the pope on the Life of the Honorable Prophet Mohammed, and what he
referred to as 'spreading' Islam 'by the sword,'" a statement released by
the OIC on Thursday said.

"The attribution of the spread of Islam around the world to the shedding of
blood and violence, which is 'incompatible with the nature of God' is a
complete distortion of the facts, which shows deep ignorance of Islam and
Islamic history."

Muslim Brotherhood Chairman Mohammed Mahdi Akef also expressed anger over
the pope's academic speech.

"The pope's statements come to add fuel to fire and trigger anger within the
Muslim world and show that the West with its politicians and clerics are
hostile to Islam."

Condemnation also came from Turkey where Benedict is scheduled to visit in
November.

"His words are extremely regrettable, worrying and unfortunate in terms of
the Christian world and common peace of humanity," the Anatolian state news
agency quoted Ali Bardakoglu, the head of Ankara's Directorate General for
Religious Affairs, as saying.

"I do not see any use in somebody visiting the Islamic world who thinks in
this way about the holy prophet of Islam."

In Pakistan, the National Assembly and Senate on Friday passed unanimous
resolutions against Benedict's controversial remarks.

The Pakistan Foreign Office also called into question the pope's comments,
calling them highly controversial, regrettable and against Islam.

But the Vatican statement said Benedict's discussion on Tuesday was quite to
the contrary.

"The Holy Father's desire (is) to cultivate an attitude of respect and
dialogue towards other religions and cultures, including, of course, Islam."

According to Lombardi, Benedict's speech was "a warning, addressed to
Western culture, to avoid 'the contempt for God and the cynicism that
considers mockery of the sacred to be an exercise of freedom.'"

CNN's Syed Mohsin Naqvi contributed to this report