PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang may have reached an independent reasoning (ijtihad) before deciding to attend an international conference in Teheran, Iran last Saturday.

Global Movement of Moderates chief executive officer Nasharudin Mat Isa said that Abdul Hadi, as an ulama, would have given serious thought on the matter before making a decision.

“I am not sure why he went to Iran. (But) as an ulama, for sure he would have come to an ijtihad,” said Nasharuddin in an interview published by Mingguan Malaysia today.

“'The ijtihad of an ulama' is mentioned by the Prophet Muhammad SAW. When we performed an ijtihad we will get either one of two things... if we are wrong we will get one reward and if we are right we will get two rewards,” he said.

Nasharuddin, as such, expressed confidence that Abdul Hadi would have done his part to analyse the situation before departing for Teheran.

“I have read the debates on social media, I see that many of the debates were based on sentiments and not facts,” he reportedly said.

Nasharudin said it would be best for all parties to listen to Abdul Hadi’s explanation, rather than trusting social media sources.

The former PAS deputy president said this in response to criticisms against Abdul Hadi from those unhappy with his visit to Teheran, which is backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's crackdown on rebels.

Syria's Alawite minority control the government and are battling rebel forces which are mostly Sunni.

Some critics, including prominent Muslim leaders abroad, claimed that Abdul Hadi's visit to Teheran would tacitly imply his support for Iran, a key Bashar ally.

Abdul Hadi, who is also the International Union of Islamic Scholars vice-president, had in response to his critics declared his willingness to resign from the position.