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Abdul Hadi Awang

Abdul Hadi bin Awang (|label=Jawi}}; born 20 October 1947) is a Malaysian politician and religious teacher serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Marang from 1990 to 2004 and again since 2008. A president of Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), he served as the 11th Menteri Besar of Terengganu from 1999 to 2004. Hadi previously was the 8th opposition leader from 2002 to 2004 and was formerly a vice-president of the International Union of Muslim Scholars.

Born in Terengganu. Hadi received his education in neighbourhood schools before furthering his studies at the Islamic University of Madinah between 1969 and 1973, and later at Al-Azhar University. Upon his return to Malaysia, he joined Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia in 1977, where he quickly became its Terengganu state chief. A year later, Hadi joined PAS and contested the Marang state constituency in the 1978 general election. He rose quickly through the ranks. He became the deputy president of PAS in 1989 when Fadzil Noor was elected to the party presidency. He remained as the deputy until 2002, when Fadzil died of a heart attack, resulting in Hadi succeeding him as the president of PAS and has been the longest-serving president in the party's history.

Hadi is a highly controversial politician in the country. Since the 1980s, he has routinely made incendiary remarks against non-Muslim minorities as well as local Muslims who do not subscribe to his ultraconservative religious views. Consequently, he has often been the target of investigation by the Royal Malaysia Police. Provided by Wikipedia