“We do not represent that sort of view, but we, as a policy, tend to show a lot of tolerance,” the PKR president told reporters after attending an international conference here.

Anwar, however said, the differences between the followers of Shia Islam and Sunni were “not new”.

Recently, Sheikh Abdurrahman Ibrahim Al-Rubai’in labelled Shia Muslims as a threat and danger to the Muslim world.

He told a convention organised by a pro-Saudi group that Shia teachings posed the greatest challenge to Muslims.

Abdurrahman said it was futile to bring Sunnis and Shias together because Shias were deviant.

Malaysian Islamic authorities have over the years been enforcing a fatwa declaring Shia teachings as “deviant”, with raiding parties mostly targeting local Shias during the annual mourning ceremonies for Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet who is a central figure in Shia Islam.

Shia Islam is the second largest branch of Islam which is predominantly followed in Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Bahrain, Lebanon and several parts of Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Pakistan.