WHEN it comes to political Islam, the Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS) is without doubt the most successful political party in the country. In fact, PAS sits comfortably among the most important Islamist political parties regionally and globally.
The origin of PAS is rather convoluted but the official account today is it was founded on Nov 24, 1951, at a meeting of Malay scholars and Islamic associations in Butterworth. The meeting was actually the third Ulama Congress, which in turn has its origin in Umno’s political strategy.