Humza Yousaf is facing questions after a former minister said that he "asked to skip" a key vote on gay marriage.
Former health secretary Alex Neil said that Yousaf arranged a ministerial meeting 19 days in advance to avoid voting because religious leaders had put him under pressure.
Yousaf said that he missed the same-sex marriage vote because he was meeting the Pakistani consulate over the case of a Scottish citizen on death row.
The current SNP leadership favourite was the only minister to miss the vote and said that the topic was being "resurrected" to undermine his leadership bid.
This comes just days after Yousaf's leadership rival Kate Forbes faced criticism from party colleagues for saying she would have voted against same-sex marriage.
Neil said that he did not think Yousaf was being honest about why he missed the vote.
He told The Herald: “I remember it very vividly.
“There is no doubt at all that Humza asked for and was given leave of absence from the vote because of ‘pressure from the mosque’.
“He asked if he could be skipped from the vote, and the First Minister gave him permission, and it was agreed he would arrange a ministerial appointment which would be timed for the day of the debate and the vote, so that he would have cover.
"I thought, to be honest at the time, it was a bit disappointing, because it was a matter of principle.
"He’s parading himself as being very much in favour of equal marriage. Why did he deliberately not vote for it?"
Yousaf has repeatedly said this week that he supports gay marriage and that he does use his faith as a basis for legislating.
He voted for the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill at Stage 1 in 2013 but missed the final Stage 3 vote in February 2014.
He was then minister for external affairs. Many Muslim leaders opposed gay marriage at the time.
Yousaf's diary records show that he was asked to attend the gay marriage vote on January 14, 2014. But two days later Yousaf requested a meeting with the Pakistan Consul General in Glasgow at the same time as the vote.
It was not until a week later that 69-year-old Scot Mohammed Ashgar was sentenced to death for blasphemy in Pakistan.
Yousaf wrote on Twitter at the time: “Had ministerial engagement arranged beforehand but signed pledge, voted for stage one and v public about my (continued) support!"
When he was asked if his absence had been “unavoidable”, he added: “Meeting Pakistan Consul discussing Scot on death row accused under Blasphemy Law not one could/want avoid.”
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