EMULATE PROPHET'S QUALITIES TO ACHIEVE EXCELLENCE - MALAYSIAN PM

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 25 (Bernama) -- Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak
Thursday called on Muslims to emulate four qualities of Prophet Muhammad --
"sidiq" (sincerity), "amanah" (trustworthiness), "tabligh" (ability to deliver)
and "fatanah" (wisdom), saying they were vital to achieve excellence.

He said these traits should serve as an inspiration to spur the "ummah"
(community) towards becoming a more progressive one.

"Community leaders, administrators, professionals and all Muslims should
strive
to possess these qualities and emulate the prophet's ways in our actions and
work," he said in his message in conjunction with Prophet Muhammad's birthday
Friday.

Najib said the prophet's agenda to strengthen unity among men to make the
ummah progressive should be instilled in Muslims.

Such was the greatness of the prophet's resolve to educate a people who were
ignorant, quarrelsome and divided into becoming united with a singular purpose,
he said.

"Therefore, on this birthday of Prophet Muhammad, let us together carve a
path
of unity through the diversification of race, religion and beliefs to establish
an intact and a strong Malaysian race," he said.

Najib said Prophet Muhammad achieved success not easily but through
strategic
and consistent planning, consultation and implementation.

The Battle of Khandak, for example, was proof that the prophet and his
friends
used the mind effectively to plan and act collectively and creatively through a
diversity of strategies, he said.

In that war, the Muslim army led by the prophet defeated the enemy, he
added.

Najib said that on the other hand, the prophet's forces were defeated in the
Battle of Uhud due to their indiscipline and lack of systematic planning.

In fact, he said, "Allah" (God) had clearly shown how important it was to
have
strategic planning to achieve success.

By example, he said, the Malaysian government had focused on several huge
plans and missions to bring development and prosperity to the country.

Najib said that to transform and build a nation state, the plans and
missions under implementation, besides the 1Malaysia concept of "People First,
Performance Now", were the Government Transformation Programme (GTP), the New
Economic Model (NEM), the 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP) and Vision 2020.

"The 1Malaysia concept will spur the Malaysian people to realise Vision 2020
(to make Malaysia a developed nation) while the NEM and 10MP are our commitment
to trek the next 10 years towards 2020.

"The livelihood of the people must be based on moderation and equality, with
fair distribution of wealth so that fairness can be planned holistically without
marginalising any group from national development," he said.

Najib said Prophet Muhammad was the most excellent and best example for the
people to emulate.

"The prophet's moral values, integrity and leadership transformation are
beyond comparison. The prophet's examples should serve as a source of
inspiration for us, the ummah, to achieve excellence and strength," he said.

-- BERNAMA