Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund, 1Malaysia Development Bhd, has postponed the sale of up to 8.4 billion ringgit ($2.41 billion) of Islamic bonds to 2015, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The delay comes as the state fund, known as 1MDB, is seeking an extension of up to two months on the construction of a $3.2 billion power plant project it won with partner Mitsui & Co Ltd in February.

"The process (bond issuance) will resume as soon as new timing is confirmed, subject to the Energy Commission's approval, of course," one of the people briefed on the matter said.

The two people declined to be named because they were not authorised to speak on the matter. Officials with 1MDB declined to comment.

The bonds were expected to be issued in November or December and would have been the largest sukuk deal in the world this year. The first three quarters of 2014 saw $99.3 billion worth of sukuk issued, a quarter higher than last year's levels, data compiled by Thomson Reuters shows.

Once issued, the proceeds from the bonds will be used to fund the construction of the greenfield 2,000 megawatt coal-fired power plant in the state of Negeri Sembilan.