Ideologically focused on Islamic fundamentalism[7] and Malay supremacy;[1] PAS's electoral base is largely centred around Peninsular Malaysia's rural northern and east coast regions particularly the states of Kelantan, Terengganu, Perlis, and Kedah.

Hampered by a lack of funds and party organisation, PAS succeeded in having only one candidate elected: Ahmad Tuan Hussein, a teacher at an Islamic school in Kerian, Perak.

[16] Burhanuddin al-Helmy, a prominent anti-colonialist, steered PAS in a socialist and nationalist direction and set about strengthening the party's internal structure and geographic reach.

Asri's principal justification for joining UMNO in a coalition government was that after the 1969 race riots, Malay unity was paramount, and that this required a partnership between the country's two ethnic-Malay political parties.

The party was reduced to five parliamentary seats and, in separate state-level elections in Kelantan, was routed by UMNO and the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Front (BERJASA), which Nasir had founded after leaving PAS.

In the face of a new prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, and the decision of the popular Islamist youth leader Anwar Ibrahim to join UMNO instead of PAS, the party was unable to improve on its five parliamentary seats and failed to regain government in Kelantan.

Yusof openly rejected the Malay nationalism that characterised both UMNO and PAS under Asri Muda, considering it a narrow and ignorant philosophy that was contrary to the concept of a Muslim ummah.

Sometimes the divisions became violent, the most infamous example being the 1985 Memali incident, in which the government sanctioned a raid on a village led by the PAS cleric Ibrahim Libya, which left 14 civilians and four policemen dead.

The party ran a sophisticated campaign for the 1999 election, taking advantage of the internet to bypass restrictions on print publications and managing to woo urban professional voters while retaining its traditional rural support base.

PAS also found itself losing Malay support following the replacement of Mahathir as Prime Minister with Abdullah Badawi, a popular and moderate Muslim, and post-September 11 fears among the electorate about radical Islam in Southeast Asia.

[51] The Pakatan Rakyat coalition went into the 2013 election facing Najib Razak, who had replaced Abdullah as Prime Minister in 2009 but failed to improve the government's fortunes, especially among urban voters.

PAS made a concerted effort to expand its voter base beyond the northern peninsula states, and campaigned heavily in Johor, where it had never won a parliamentary seat.

The election witnessed a significant degree of cross-over ethnic voting: Chinese voters in Malay-majority seats decided in large numbers to support PAS, to maximise the chances of a national Pakatan Rakyat victory.

In 2018, following the then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's announcement of the Seventh Mahathir cabinet's decision for the government to "ratify all remaining core UN instruments related to the protection of human rights", including International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) and other five previously unratified conventions at a United Nations General Assembly, UMNO, PAS along with various non-governmental organisations, staged an Anti-ICERD Rally that was held at the Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur, to protest against the ratifications of the relevant international conventions, due to their perception that these human rights instruments contravene with the special position of the Malays, Bumiputera and Islam within the country; all of which are enshrined within the Malaysian Constitution.

[62][63] In February 2020, PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang, in concert with Bersatu President Muhyiddin Yassin, UMNO leaders Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Ismail Sabri Yaakob and PKR defector members led by Azmin Ali, collectively convened at the Sheraton Petaling Jaya hotel to initiate a change in government, thus causing political instability by depriving the elected Pakatan Harapan government of a majority within the 14th Malaysian Parliament.

Despite the clarifications and the apology, Sanusi was detained and taken into custody by the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) on the wee hours of 18 July 2023 after the Perikatan Nasional's Supreme Council Meeting held at their headquarters in Solaris Dutamas, Segambut, Kuala Lumpur.

[86] Harian Metro reported that Sanusi was arrested at his hotel room in Mont Kiara by 20 officers from the Classified Criminal Investigations Department (USJT) and Bukit Aman's Anti-Vice, Gambling, and Secret Societies Division (D7).

[90] Amid criticism of the use of the controversial Sedition Act against a political opponent, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim stressed that the case relates to “the position and dignity” of Malaysian's monarchs.

[99] The PAS party wishes that the death penalty be enacted for Muslims who attempt to convert, as part of their ultimate desire to turn Malaysia into an Islamic state.

In 2012, PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang spoke alongside Muslim Brotherhood scholar Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi at a speaking event in London.

DCP Datuk Rohaimi Md Isa, the police chief, has stated that preliminary investigations will be conducted to determine if any offences were committed during the event, and appropriate action will be taken accordingly.

Images circulating on social media showed members of Terengganu PAS Youth dressed in medieval Islamic war attire and wielding fake swords, spears, and shields.

Religious Affairs Minister Datuk Dr. Mohd Na’im Mokhtar criticized the parade, expressing that it presented an inappropriate image of Islam, emphasizing the importance of promoting peace and unity in society.

Social media photos also depicted a pickup truck carrying a large fake sword, with youths dressed in militant costumes standing on its cargo bed while it was in motion.

[108] The unsubstantiated comments were widely condemned by numerous Malaysian social media users, and Muhammad Khalil Abdul Hadi's pro-Taliban posts on Facebook and Twitter were taken down in response.

[109][110] In March 2022, numerous independent news reports indicated that women and girls in Afghanistan were deprived (by decrees from the Taliban) from their ability to work, study or move freely within the country.

[115] In August 2021, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang alleged that Western media made false accusations against the Taliban to advance an Islamophobic agenda, without studying and fully understanding the religion of Islam.

[125] However, in March 2022, numerous evident news reports indicated that the Taliban prevented girls from attending secondary schools throughout the educational system of Afghanistan, generating widespread condemnation amid a global outcry.

National Union of Flight Attendants Malaysia vice secretary-general S Shashi Kumar also publicly stated that this complaint is "nonsensical" when he said the baju kebaya has become a fashion statement in southeast Asia.

In the PAS party newspaper, Harakah Hadi wrote an article titled "Ignore the delirious voices which are trying to reduce the importance of the Malay language" where in it he stated that such advocates "are behaving like slaves to the former colonial masters despite having been freed from their clutches".