MUKTAMAR | Cries of "Jahanam PAN" (Parti Amanah Negara Be Damned) echoed during the opening ceremony of PAS' 56th Ulama wing muktamar today.

The chant was led by Kedah PAS Ulama chief Mohd Rejab Md Akhir.

Before that, Rejab asked all delegates to stand up to take an oath, which he read out in Arabic.

The oath-taking ended with three cries of "Allahu Akbar" (God is Great), after which Rejab belted out the anti-Amanah cry.

The oath translates to: "Allah is our objective, the prophet is our leader, the Quran is our constitution and following Allah's path is our highest ambition."

Amanah is a PAS splinter party formed by former PAS leaders who, while still in the party, had been dubbed by political observers as the progressive faction in the Islamist party.

Leaders of this faction left PAS in 2015, after PAS quit the Pakatan Rakyat coalition. They included seven MPs, leaving PAS with 14 seats in Parliament, and several of them also lost in the party leadership elections held in June that year.

Amanah is led by former PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu, while its deputy president is former PAS vice-president Salahuddin Ayub.

Amanah has expressed its intention to go head-to-head with PAS by contesting in PAS-held Kelantan.

Another former PAS vice-president, Husam Musa, who is now an Amanah vice-president, plans to contest in the state capital for the Kota Baru parliamentary seat, which is now held by party secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan.

Meanwhile, Kedah Amanah chief Ismail Salleh criticised what he described was the "fanatic" rhetoric at the muktamar.

"This is the mindset in the Dewan Ulama as well as the religious scholars that largely chart the direction of PAS.

"This fanatic mindset is not new and alien to PAS. It is fanaticism that makes them unable to accept diversity and differences in thought.

"In PAS, difference in thought and approach is considered a sin that must be eliminated," he said.

Ismail said PAS was expected to be an example to its members and society, and adhering to Islamic attitudes that is consistent with PAS' Islamic struggle.

"However, the opposite is happening," he said.