Iskandar Puteri MP Lim Kit Siang has hit out at former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak for alleging the former equated Islam with kleptocracy.

Lim denied ever having belittled Islam, saying he understood that all great religions teach human beings to be passionate about justice, freedom and goodwill, while abhorring corruption, kleptocracy and dishonesty.

He said that his statement yesterday on BN's campaign for the Sungai Kandis by-election was to declare that Islam should not be equated with corruption and kleptocracy – and questioned how Najib could have interpreted it to mean the exact opposite.

"Let me ask the former prime minister Najib, how low can you go, to the extent of making such a wild, false and unfounded claim that I am equating Islam with kleptocracy?

"Let all Umno and PAS leaders who claim that I am equating Islam with kleptocracy speak up, loud and clear, to identify themselves, so that Malaysians can know about their intellectual capability and moral failing," he said in a statement today.

Lim stated that Malaysians of all races and religion chose to vote BN out in the 14th general election due to the alleged corruption of the Najib administration – primarily the 1MDB scandal, over which the ousted premier is being investigated.

"Can Najib tell Malaysians whether the 1MDB scandal or Malaysia becoming a global kleptocracy is in keeping with any the great precepts of Islam or any other great religion in Malaysia?"

Yesterday, Najib accused Lim of "crossing a line" by purportedly equating Islam with kleptocracy.

"I don't understand Lim's obsession (with me) until he has to issue a statement every day to attack me personally, even when I'm not prime minister or Umno and BN chief.

"I can't stop his obsession towards me, but Lim should not belittle my religion and make it campaign material," he said in a Facebook post.

Earlier in the day, Lim issued a statement saying that the Sg Kandis polls will be a test of whether "Najib’s irresponsible, vicious and toxic politics of race, religion, fear, hate and lies" still has traction in Malaysian politics.

He pointed out that part of Najib's arsenal was his demonisation of DAP and Pakatan Harapan as anti-Malay and anti-Islam, but added that this tactic had been rejected by voters in GE14.

Lim claimed that the same tactic was being employed by BN – with the assistance of PAS – in Lokman Noor Adam's campaign for Sungai Kandis.

"Will the voters in Sungai Kandis by-election succumb to the Umno/PAS false propaganda...and be misled into believing the vicious and toxic politics equating the future of Malays and Islam with Najib’s kleptocracy?" he wrote.

In the polls, Lokman will face off against PKR's Mohd Zawawi Ahmad Mughni and independent K Murthy.

Sungai Kandis fell vacant upon the death of incumbent assemblyperson Mat Shuhaimi Shafiei early this month due to complications from lymphoma.