A Malaysian Muslim group has called for New Year’s celebrations to be cancelled because they reflect Jewish culture and will cause Muslim youths to commit sins.

A top Muslim cleric in the Asian state also said the New Year should be recognised with pray and religious speeches rather than parties.

“The celebrations will have excessive entertainment, which can cause the majority of Muslim youth to let their guard down and commit a lot of sin,” Malaysia International Institute of Islamic Cooperation (Ikiam) Datuk Mustapha Idrus was quoted as saying by Malay daily Sinar Harian.

“It is not just a matter of culture, but it is also time for the government to save money, seeing that the cost of living is going up.

“The government needs to look at the necessity of such events. Celebrating New Year’s Day alone will cost millions of ringgit.”

Penang Mufti Datuk Seri Hassan Ahmad said the New Year – which is based on the Gregorian calendar and is different to the Islamic calendar, which began its most recent new year on November 3 - the Islamic way, rather than follow the Western traditions.

“It would be great if we could celebrate the New Year by having religious speeches, prayers and Yassin recitals, so that our youth will not be attracted to inappropriate cultures,” the Mufti was quoted as saying by Sinar.

“I’m certain that if we celebrate the Islamic way, we’ll definitely be able to reduce the social ills that are associated with New Year’s Day revelry. Maybe there won’t be any more drunken celebrations.”

Some New Year’s celebrations already have been cancelled in Indonesia – the world’s largest Muslim country – in response to protests by extremist Islamic groups.

The Ulema Advisory Council of Banda Aceh (MPU) told the Muslim community in Aceh, the only Indonesian province that enforces Shariah law, not to celebrate Christmas and New Year because they are not Islamic holidays but are based on the Christian calendar, leading a hotel to cancel its planned multiple-day events.

The fundamentalist movements in Aceh also have warned they will conduct raids and punish organisers of New Year’s Eve parties, including any fireworks or alcohol consumption.

They said the celebrations could be moved to another night of the year because it did not correspond with the Christian tradition.