Under fire for allegedly insulting Islam in his latest musical work, controversial artiste Wee Meng Chee, better known as Namewee, today issued a statement in which he defended the religion.

The statement cited his remarks in a video uploaded on Tuesday in response to the controversy.

"Islam is a peaceful religion... Islam teaches people to be good.

"All this while no matter where I go, I will always defend my Muslim friends in Malaysia because I dislike people misunderstanding my country and my Muslim friends," Namewee said in the video.

He said this while recalling how, after the Sept 11 World Trade Centre attacks in 2001, his old college mates would insult Malaysia for being a Muslim country, and how he had defended the religion.

He also blamed US media for misrepresenting Islam as a violent religion.

The artiste's remarks come after a music video featuring him and Taiwanese band Nine One One titled 'Oh My God' caused a stir, over a scene where the four were dancing in a mosque.

While admitting they did not get written permission to shoot the scene at the Tanjung Bungah Mosque in Penang, he said they had permission nonetheless.

He also said that many tourists took photos and videos at the mosque without issue.

He then blamed "extreme" local media for the perception that he was disrespectful towards Islam.

Namewee also said that the video that had sparked the controversy was not the official version, and was uploaded by hackers while negotiations were ongoing to remove sensitive aspects with the video's producers.

Several NGOs had lodged police reports over the video, prompting the police to initiate investigations.

Penang police chief Abdul Ghafar Rajab said that the case was being probed under Section 295 of the Penal Code for defiling a place of worship with the intent of insulting a religion.