A Malaysian scholar has been quoted by a Pakistani online magazine as saying that Malaysia is not an Islamic state, at a time when there is a raging debate as to whether the country is Islamic or secular.

"I would simply state that Malaysia is not an Islamic state. It is a Muslim majority state and the ratio, as I mentioned earlier, between Muslims and non-Muslims is 60:40," Mohammad Kamarulnizam Abdullah, a scholar and consultant for Institute for Public Security Malaysia (Ipsom), reportedly said.

He made the comments during an interview with the News on Sunday , a Pakistani website, during his recent visit to Pakistan.

He also said that tensions between different religion have "subsided" over the years, but admitted to intra-faith issues regarding Sunni Islam and Shiism.

"In Malaysia, only the Sunnis prevail, and Shiites are not even allowed to profess their thoughts. So, the current challenge the country faces is about how to control the spread of Shiism," he said.

He also appeared to play down the current controversy surrounding the use of ‘Allah’ in Malay-language Bibles, saying that such usage "has never happened before in history" and questioned why the issue is arising now.

"There was also a concern among Malays that the Malay translation of the Bible could be used to preach Christianity to Muslims which is prohibited in the country," he noted.