COMMENT | They were in al-Azhar University together, among waves of Islamic students from Malaysia who flocked from the 1980s onwards to the global seat of Sunni Muslim learning in the immediate aftermath of the Khomeini revolution in Iran in 1979.

Nik Omar Nik Aziz is the eldest son of the late and revered PAS leader, Nik Aziz Nik Mat, the menteri besar of Kelantan from 1990 to 2013, while Mujahid Yusof Rawa is the youngest of the 11 children of Nik Aziz's predecessor as Murshidyul Am (Spiritual Leader) of PAS, Yusof Rawa.

The tie between these scions of what is considered PAS royalty turned out to be crucial to swinging Nik Omar to Amanah and Pakatan Harapan...