It sounds a bit odd but the fact is that there are two very different, if not opposing, versions of Islamic state blueprints within PAS.

One was partially revealed by its former president Fadzil Noor at the PAS Muktamar (general assembly) in 2002, three weeks before his untimely demise. The other was released by current president Abdul Hadi Awang on Nov 12 this year.

Over the past two years, four sets of drafts were disseminated either publicly or among PAS' allies and NGO activists. Three of them were along the line of Fadzil's thinking.

This is a research on the two versions and the politics associated with them.

PAS fifth president (1982-89) Yusuf Rawa once remarked: "To us (PAS), it is not practical to go into details of what we want to do in an Islamic state."

When PAS formed the Barisan Alternatif with other opposition parties in 1999, Islamic state was not mentioned in the common manifesto 'Towards A Just Malaysia'. Fadzil was forthright in an interview with Berita Minggu that "the issue of Islamic state did not arise in the context of (BA) coalition."