The Islamic Development Department (Jakim) is on the hunt for a man who allegedly tattooed the word ‘Allah’  in Arabic script on his body.

Jakim director-general Othman Mustapha said the department is working with the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to trace the man who uploaded a picture of himself with the tattoos on Facebook.

"We received a report and our religious department officer has been tasked to check on the matter. To date, we don’t know who the individual is," he was quoted by Bernama as saying.

He also said the man had "sullied the sanctity of these words" by tattooing them onto his body.

The national newswire reported that the man, said to be in his 30s, had tattooed his forehead, neck and hands with words like 'Allah' and 'Bismillah' in Arabic script.