The bloodshed in Memali, which claimed 18 lives, was a misdeed committed by a former leader against Islam, according to PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang.

However, he did not name the leader.

Hadi also claimed the police were “forced” to act on the religious group, whom he said was defending the sanctity of Islam.

"When there is a dispute on religious matters, it is not the duty of the police to sort it out. Religious authorities should have been sent to Memali, not the police.

"The action taken against Memali villagers is a wrongdoing against Islam. Police acted against the religious group, who were defending Islam's sanctity," he said in a blog post.

The Memali incident on Nov 19, 1985, had also claimed the lives of Kedah PAS leader Ibrahim Mahmud, better known as Ibrahim Libya, and four police personnel.

Violence had erupted when a police team attempted to detain Ibrahim.

The Memali incident landed in the spotlight once again during the recent Nothing to Hide 2 forum, where a riot erupted in the hall as former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad was answering a question on the matter.

This led to calls for a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to be formed to investigate the Memali incident.

Following this, DAP leader Lim Kit Siang, former inspector-general of police Abdul Rahim Noor and Mahathir himself claimed that Hadi's controversial “amanat” (address) was related to the incident.

Lim said Hadi should testify if an RCI is formed to answer how his amanat, which spoke of a holy war and martyrdom, influenced the PAS members involved in the Memali incident.

In his blog posting this morning, Hadi said he was tasked by his party at that time to explain issues pertaining to infidels to counter Mustika Hadis, a book published by the Islamic division of the Prime Minister's Department, which he believed contained extreme elements on Islam.

"The PAS leader then entrusted me to prepare a research, titled 'Batas-batas Iman dan Kufur' which was aimed to tackle issues regarding 'infidels' among PAS members,” he added.

In a press conference later, Hadi said the amanat widely circulated is also just an excerpt, and those who had heard it in full had sought his forgiveness.

Meanwhile, Hadi also said that he knew the police involved in the operation were forced to take part in it and that PAS bore them no ill will.

"We don't blame the police, those who were forced. We hope Allah blesses them," he said.