Malaysia's National Fatwa Council has declared e-cigarettes "haram" — forbidden — according to a report in national paper the New Straits Times.

The council is Malaysia's top Islamic body, and its chairman, Prof Emeritus Tan Sri Dr Abdul Shukor Husin, announced Monday night that vaping is now forbidden for Muslims in the country.

Islam is the official religion of Malaysia, and about 61.3% of Malaysians are Muslim, according to a 2010 census.

Abdul Shukor said the council came to decision after it considered Syariah teachings, and medical and scientific studies. "From the Syariah aspect, it is detrimental to health. Islam forbids its followers from using things that can harm them directly or indirectly," he was quoted as saying.

Besides the health implications of vaping, it's also wasteful, since it's money spent on an activity that is "harmful and nonbeneficial," he said.

The council decided to make the announcement upon seeing a rising interest in e-cigarette adoption, and hopes to put a stop to future generations taking it up, he said.

An organiser of a vaporiser convention in the capital of Kuala Lumpur told The Star in June this year that he believed Malaysia's vape industry is the second largest in the world after the U.S. with an estimated million users in the country.

His vaporiser convention had 35,000 visitors, and there are around 1,000 vape shops in Malaysia.

This ban comes as governments around the world debate the health implications of vaping as an alternative to traditional cigarettes. In August, a report by Public Health England which said vaping was less harmful than tobacco was later criticised by British medical journal The Lancet.

Currently, vaping is already banned in four states in Malaysia: Penang, Kedah, Johor and Kelantan.