Why PAS is so politically powerful

Murray Hunter


Why PAS is so politically powerful


Jun 21, 2025





Over the last two decades Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) has developed from a rural based party along the east coast of the peninsula to a political party of national significance. PAS has greatly benefitted from its alliances with PKR and the DAP as the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition and now with Bersatu in the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition.

PAS is the largest political party in Malaysia, holding 43 seats in the Dewan Rakyat. PAS holds 37 out of 45 seats in the state of Kelantan, 27 out of 32 seats in Kelantan, 21 out of 36 seats in Kedah, and 9 out of 15 seats in Perlis, which are the party’s strongholds.

PAS has also gained seats in other state assemblies where it holds 17 out of 59 in Perak, just missing out on forming a state government with Bersatu. In Penang, PAS won 6 new seats to hold 7 in the state assembly. PAS won 9 new seats to hold 10 in 2023 in Selangor, and won 3 new seats in the Negeri Sembilan state election the same year. In Pahang PAS holds 15 seats out of 42. PAS is looking to make some inroads at the coming Melaka state election in 2026 and Johor in 2027.


PAS is not a conventional political party

It might be more accurate to describe PAS as a community association. PAS has developed from the ground up, originally from rural madrassas, where the Ustaz organized community activities based upon Malay traditions of gotong royong, Quran reading sessions, and tuition for young village members. The Ustaz are very trusted people in kampongs, where many developed subsistence communities, that eventually joined with others with similar Islamic life outlooks.

PAS communities eventually sprung up across most of north and east parts of Malaysia that consisted of a Mesjid or surau, madrassa, tadika, school, and even a community shop. Over time some entrepreneurs created viable businesses which created employment, and the successful ones ploughed money back into their communities.

These communities developed after the Second World War, and formed into the Persatuan Islam Sa-Malaysia in 1951, seeing itself more as a society than a political party at the time. However, PAS joined the first national pre-independence elections in 1955, fielding 11 candidates, where Ahmad Tuan Hussein was elected as the sole PAS member to parliament.

With the kampong base, PAS developed a left-wing socialist form of nationalism and built up a party structure for the 1959 election. PAS won 12 seats out of the then 104 seat parliament. PAS developed a pan-Asian Islam at the time, which became entangled in the anti-communism turmoil during the 1950s.

In the 1970s PAS became more concerned with the rights of Malays and eventually joined the alliance for a short time. PAS withdraw in 1077 after conflicts with UMNO in the Kelantan assembly, becoming bitter rivals since.

The leadership was inspired by the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979 and the objective of creating an Islamic state. PAS moved from its Malay nationalism approach towards a Muslim Ummah. The Ulama grew in influence and controlled the party. This forced UMNO to follow, and Malaysia from the 1980s followed along the path towards Islamization. PAS, unlike UMNO was not a pro-monarchy party, but accepted the monarchy as part of the Malay institution.

Under Fadzil Noor and later Nik Aziz Nik Mat, PAS became a moderate organization based upon a “Nusantara” theme of Islam in an attempt to attract young urban professionals, and appeal to non-Muslims.

In 1990 PAS won the state of Kelantan, where Nik Aziz became chief minister. In 1999 PAS joined the Barisan Alternatif, an anti-government coalition after the dismissal of Anwar Ibrahim as deputy prime minister under Mahathir Mohamed, which eventually become the Pakatan Rakyat, after PAS left it in 2015. In the 1999 general election PAS won 27 seats in the 192 seat federal parliament.

PAS has long been influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood, as many of the PAS founders were influenced by the ideology and teachings in Cairo. Many within the PAS Syura Council or Majlis Syura Ulama, the top decision making body within PAS. PAS is grounded in the principle that any government should be guided by a wise group of Muslims to ensure any government doesn’t stray away from Islamic precepts.


Education

Education within PAS schools and Madrasas is along Fardhu Ain, i.e, Islamic duties and obligations, until adulthood. The youth within PAS see Malaysia as a state that should be governed by wise Muslims. Thus, they see the politics and politicians of the day as corrupt and misguided. All decisions and policies of the government should be guided by Islam.

Many within PAS believe that students should have a strong grounding in Islam, and then take on technical education and training in the later part of their education. This way the concept of Ibadah (working for society’s benefit in the name of Allah) will be within them, where they can work and manage with hearts full of empathy, wisdom and compassion.

Students within the PAS system see ‘liberal’ Islam as a betrayal of the true principles of Islam. Under liberal Islam the soul can be easily corrupted, and lead people towards an immoral existence. Consequently, the DAP, PKR, and UMNO are seen as not worthy of government.

Some people have lived 60 years within such an environment. This is the life they know which shapes their view of the world. Since the 1980s, the BN government Islamized Malaysia resembling their worldview. PAS supporters are highly unlikely to see secularism as any solution to civil problems. They see secularism as the problem.


GE16

It’s very difficult to see how those who support PAS would ever consider changing their vote towards any other political grouping, unless the leadership directs otherwise (supporting Bersatu). When PAS supporters talk to non-PAS voters, they talk in terms of what Islam directs, not the politics of the day. There is no way this ‘hardcore’ support of PAS could be eliminated.

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi back in 2003 tried to introduce Islam Hadhari (present day Islam). This was of very limited success. PAS politicians mostly come from the PAS communities and know how to convey the correct messaging. Corruption within PAS is much lower and they are very few cases (there is a case in Perlis). The bottom line is that “Ketuanan Melayu” is not as important as “Ketuanan Islam” and that’s why calls for “Malay unity” rarely work on the PAS voter base. On the other hand, PAS does see that government is in need of some reform, and young professionals within PAS (who are often painted as loonies) are very up to date on new technologies and ideas of efficiency. PAS doesn’t advocate any sort of return to the middle-ages, as propaganda purports.

PAS is likely to add a few seats in the coming general election due at the end of 2027. This will come from UMNO losses. It will be interesting to see if PAS can increase its presence in the south of the peninsula over the next couple of years with the Melaka and Johor state elections. The poor ‘unity government’ performance on corruption and moral issues related to the current prime minister will be crucial in increasing PAS support in the south.

Its unknown at this point whether PAS would insist on the prime ministerial position in any future government. It is likely this position may go to Bersatu, even though they will have fewer seats in the new parliament to PAS.