Malaysia's Islamic regulatory body has insisted that unmarried Muslims caught kissing and hugging will be hauled to religious courts as debate rages over the multicultural nation's morality laws.

The director-general of the influential Islamic Development Department of Malaysia, Mustapa Abdul Rahman, said it was against Islamic teachings for unmarried couples to act "immorally" in secluded places.

"If there is a report of... a Muslim couple acting immorally in an isolated place, then the enforcement will go there. If there is evidence the couple is not married and not related then the couple will be brought to the court under sharia law," he told AFP.

Some 60 percent of Malaysians are Muslim Malays, living alongside ethnic Chinese and Indian communities.

Mustapa said that non-Muslims, even those caught with Muslim partners, would not face action.

"We will take the Muslim only," he said, adding that immoral acts included kissing and hugging.

A furore has broken out over morality laws after a court ruled that under local by-laws, Kuala Lumpur's city hall could prosecute a young ethnic Chinese couple for indecency for kissing and embracing in a city park.

'Holier than thou'

Opponents have highlighted the pitfalls of legislating on moral standards and said the decision is a sign of the growing "Islamisation" of Malaysia.

Former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim has also spoken out on the issue, saying that while the country was generally conservative in its religious outlook, Islamic religious authorities were becoming over-zealous.

"The problem is the religious authorities," said Anwar, who described their attitude as "holier than thou".

Anwar, the founder of an Islamic youth organisation, said there was a feeling in his discussions with Muslim groups that the issue had been taken "too far".

"It is doing a disservice to the whole Muslim orientation, the moderate Muslim view," he told reporters this week.

Malaysia's government promotes a moderate version of Islam but the country has seen a growing influence of Islam over society in the past two decades.