Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today urged Muslims to discard traits of discord and strive to be fair and sincere in seeking common ground for the strength and unity of the 'ummah'.

Unity needed sacrifice; sincerity; the spirit of profound acceptance; seeking the good, not the bad, and perfection, not the flaws; always celebrating, praising, advising and criticising; and never neglecting, insulting or resorting to slander, he said.

"It emulates the virtues practised by the 'Muhajirin' and 'Ansar' people. The biggest success of Hijrah was the genuine unity between the two races. Unity is not an easy achievement but neither is it impossible because it has been proven in the story of Hijrah itself," he said.

"The Muhajirin's virtue was that they wholeheartedly accepted and were grateful for what they had because they had started out with nothing on the Hijrah," he said at the national-level Maal Hijrah celebration, here.

Also present were former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom and Chief Secretary to the Government Datuk Seri Dr Ali Hamsa.