Zamihan, leader of the Ahli Sunnah Wal Jamaah Malaysia Organisation (Aswaja) movement, told FMT that a peace offering was not enough.

“He has accused me of being a Shiah follower, but where is the proof?” Zamihan pointed out that he had on various occasions in his talks spoken about the dangers of Shiah teachings.

“He is Allah’s first creation to accuse me of being a Shiah” – a branch of Islam that is not recognised in Malaysia, most of whose Muslims subscribe to Sunni teachings.

Zamihan was responding to a peace offering by Asri at a press conference after a forum on religious extremism in Malaysia earlier this month.

Asri’s attacks were not new, Zamihan said, noting that it had begun after he made criticisms of Wahhabism, another school of Islamic thought.

Zamihan added that he had kept his cool, but Asri, and federal minister Shahidan Kassim had been “kicking him around like a football”.

“I had enough.”

Zamihan and Asri were to have taken part in a debate, which was called off at the last minute.