PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang said he has forgiven former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who had accused him of being a "traitor" and "infidel" (kafir) for allegedly working with Umno to split opposition votes in the coming general election

In a video shared on his Facebook page, Hadi, however, expressed hope that Mahathir would also repent and seek forgiveness from God.

"Between him and myself, I forgave him. (But between) him and God, he must repent. He's an old man, let him repent on his own.

"Let him sit by himself and contemplate. He must read more. Not just medical books, but also books about Islam," he added.

Hadi said this in response to Mahathir's jibes at him during a press conference yesterday. 

"Najib is an infidel according to PAS, and Hadi once said if you work with an infidel, then you become an infidel yourself.

"So, now that he is working with Umno and at one time had also worked with DAP, he is now an infidel himself," Mahathir had said.

Asked for comments on whether Mahathir's remarks were a sign of desperation, Abdul Hadi said the Bersatu chairperson "need not smash his own head."

"He (Mahathir) is like a desperate person backed up against a wall. He can't go anywhere else. He (will) push through the wall and break his own head.

"So don't break your own head," said the Marang MP.

The two leaders' latest war of words was triggered after Mahathir said the clergy  should have spoken up against Abdul Hadi’s infamous Amanat Hadi, a 1981 proclamation which many claim was responsible for causing the Memali incident that left 18 people dead four years later.

Mahathir made the remark in his speech at the Bersatu first annual general meeting on Dec 30.

Abdul Hadi responded that the clergy's silence was to avoid being the victims of political interference that was rife during Mahathir’s rule.