 The Memali Incident followed severely strained relationships between UMNO and PAS, two major political parties in Malaysia.Some PAS leaders had concluded that UMNO members were apostate.In 1981, Hadi Awang, (who was then PAS state commissioner for Terengganu, and has been PAS President since 2002) claimed that UMNO perpetuated the unIslamic rule of colonialism, and therefore the struggle of PAS and its supporters against UMNO is jihad,

 and that those who died in the struggle are al-shahid (martyrs).