A former minister's "disrespectful" blog posting about Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat has landed him in hot water after the entry went viral shortly after the PAS spiritual leader's passing on Thursday.

Going into damage control mode, ex-information minister Zainuddin Maidin said the posting was made in 2013, so it was not intended to disrespect Nik Aziz's passing.

The posting titled, 'Should Nik Aziz be buried in a Muslim cemetery', accused Nik Aziz (left) of turning Muslims "deviant" and therefore, he should not get a Muslim burial.

"PAS members may not have been responsible for the dissemination of the writing - which is over a year old - but it could have been done by those who have malicious motives to sully my name or to create distrust between Umno and PAS," said Zainuddin in a blog posting yesterday.

The article was allegedly sent out by Berita Harian, but the daily had since denied doing so and had lodged a police report over the matter.

Zainuddin added that the article had caused anger among PAS supporters as well as non-PAS supporters, since it was disseminated partially.

"The posting was a reaction to Nik Aziz's fatwa that the prayers of Muslims in Umno will not be rewarded, and that Umno was a party of apostates which was already rebutted by a mufti," Zainuddin pointed out.

He then urged readers to read the article in full.

Nik Aziz, a venerated leader among the Muslim community, was laid to rest near his residence in Kampung Pulau Melaka.