Condemning recent civil violence in Iraq where Islamist militant fighters are trying to take over the country, Malaysia's fourth prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today such killings are not Islamic.

Mahathir was commenting on the armed uprisings in the Islamic state of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group which has overrun several Iraqi towns in the last two weeks.

The Al-Qaeda-inspired group seized control of a large portion of western Iraq and is now marching towards Baghdad.

"When the Shiite rise, they kill the Sunni. Sunni rise, kill Shiite... this does not follow Islam's teachings. It is only Islam in namesake," Mahathir is reported as saying in an interview with Utusan  Malaysi a today.

He said Islam clearly forbids Muslim from disrespecting the dead.

"But look at what is happening in Iraq, they shoot, kick and do all sort of things (to dead bodies)," he said.

"Muslims killing Muslims... this is more fun than watching football," Mahathir said, adding that such rebel groups were really working for Israel’s cause, which should be happily applauding.

Asked whether the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) should intervene to stop the violence, Mahathir pointed out the OIC's dilemma.

"The OIC countries cannot agree at all. If one party sides another, the others will jump to the other side," he said.

Mahathir, a former OIC head, said the Arabs should just follow Malaysia's lead, where PAS and Umno can disagree on the religion without killing each other.

"We have animosity between PAS and Umno but not to the point where we want to kill Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat. No one is trying to assassinate me either," Mahathir spoke to the Umno-owned paper from his office on the 86th floor of the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur.