Jordan ? Dozens of Muslim scholars and chief muftis from numerous countries have accepted Pope Benedict XVI’s statement of regret for his remarks on Islam and violence, the editor of a Muslim journal said Friday.

The scholars have signed an open letter that will be delivered to a Vatican envoy in the hopes of engaging the pope in a dialogue to counter prejudice against Islam, said the Jordanian-based editor of Islamica Magazine, Sohail Nakhooda.

Nakhooda said the leading clerics behind the letter were Sheik Habib Ali of the Taba Institute in the United Arab Emirates and Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, the special adviser to Jordan’s King Abdullah II.

In a speech last month in his native Germany, the pontiff quoted a Byzantine emperor who characterized some of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad as “evil and inhuman,” particularly “his command to spread by the sword the faith.”