The next few days has the potential to re-shape the political landscape of Malaysia as PAS holds its much anticipated annual general assembly (muktamar) and elections.

The assembly will kick off tomorrow with the meeting of youth wing delegates.

On a sad note, there will be one absentee - PAS former spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, who passed away in February.

PAS is currently at a crossroad, following the renewed push to implement hudud law in Kelatan, which has strained ties with its Pakatan Rakyat partners.

In 2001, PAS' theocratic agenda saw DAP pulling out of an opposition alliance known as Barisan Alternatif.

These imbroglios come as no surprise given the two parties' diametrically opposed ideologies, which critics often cite to illustrate the brittleness of the opposition bloc.

The incumbent president Abdul Hadi Awang and his supporters believe that executing the divine will is far greater - even if it means joining hands with Umno - than the quest to seize federal power, but his opponents disagree.

This has led to the post of president being challenged for the first time since the 1960s.

Scions of the Tok Guru

Over the past decades, PAS has given birth to numerous influential religious leaders, who are known as Tok Guru.

Tok Guru literally means teacher, but this term has a far greater meaning to the Malay-Muslim community. The Tok Guru are seen as wise men with wisdom about the here and the hereafter.

The children of four Tok Guru, who were all either past and current prominent figures in PAS, are now in the forefront.

However, while those in PAS agree that Nik Aziz, Yusuf Rawa, Fadhil Noor and Abdul Hadi were close friends and were responsible in ushering the rejuvenation and reformation of PAS in 1982, the same cannot be said about their sons.

Nik Omar Nik Aziz, Mujahid Yusof Rawa and Faiz Fadhil are seen as being pro-Pakatan and drumming up support against Abdul Hadi's pro-hudud ulama faction.

While Nik Omar is not vying for any posts, the other two have their sights on the central committee and Youth central committee respectively.

The three, during forums held in Penang and Shah Alam ( photo ), revealed that they would be throwing their support for Ahmad Awang, who is contesting against Abdul Hadi.

Should he win, Ahmad Awang has promised to work with Pakatan in order to defeat Umno and BN.

Battle lines drawn

Nik Omar ( photo ), who now heads Nik Aziz's religious school, told the forum in Penang that his late father "cared more about Pakatan than his own sons".

However, Nik Aziz's view on Pakatan is not shared by his other son Nik Abduh, who is aligned to Abdul Hadi's faction.

Nik Abduh will be challenging incumbent youth wing leader Suhaizan Kaiat. If it isn't obvious enough, Nik Abduh's running mate is Abdul Hadi's son - Mohd Khalil.

Recently, former youth wing head Nasruddin Hasan - a known Nik Abduh ally - penned a Facebook post about the four Tok Guru.

He noted how he studied under Yusuf Rawa, Fadhil Noor, Nik Aziz and Abdul Hadi. However, he noted that none of them have ever belittled one another.

"There are events organised featuring the sons of the three Tok Guru. I am happy to see the legacy of the Tok Guru continue and I hope they will inherit their fathers’ fighting spirit.

"But I hope that the sons are not used to publicly belittle the leadership of their fathers’ friend, Abdul Hadi," he said.

Nasruddin's comments reflects conservative nature of PAS - any attempts to rock the status quo, or in this challenge the president, can be seen as disrespectful, regardless of the logic behind it.

The fate of PAS and Pakatan now hinges on the 1,195 PAS delegates who will be casting their ballots over the weekend to elect the PAS president and central committee.

What remains to be seen is whether the delegates will favour the vision of the three Tok Guru who have passed, or the one currently at the helm of the party.