KUANTAN: Security forces must uphold wala' (loyalty) when discharging their duties to safeguard and defend the country against both internal and external incursions, said Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
The prime minister said that he was impressed by the loyalty shown by the army towards the government by displaying wala', which is one of the Islamic principles to obey the "ulul amri" or leader who was elected through proper process.
"Failure to remain loyal or adopt wala' can bring down or destroy an entire empire, and the nearest example is the Lahad Datu incident in Sabah in 2013, which caused six of our security personnel to be brutally killed.
"There were people who held positions in the security forces (our own men) who betrayed and gave information on the security's movements to the enemy. The enemy were waiting for the police force and this caused six policemen to be killed," he said.
He was speaking during his speech after performing Isyak and Terawih prayers at the Al-Ikhwan surau at 10th mile army camp here tonight.
Najib, who is also Pekan member of parliament, said such an incident occurred because there were those who were willing to betray the country and their own friends (collegues) which resulted in the loss of lives.
"That is why we have to always uphold loyalty, never leak out information to the enemy and always battle with high integrity. Despite the bombing incident at Jakarta, Marawi and a resort in Manila, with God's grace Malaysia is still safe as we know all these threats can be overcome through strength, proper strategy, professionalism and intelligence information," he said.
He noted that the army and police have always been part of the pillar in safeguarding the country.
Najib said his trip to the army camp here today was nostalgic as he had previously served as the defence minister for 14 years and was familiar with the culture of the army.
"I will continue to safeguard the welfare of the security personnel based on the country's capabilities to ensure they could continue discharging their duties well.