Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesian Vice President Ma'ruf Amin along with his wife, Wury Estu Handayani, visited the mourning house in Jakarta on Monday morning to pay their final respects to Salahuddin Wahid, who passed away at 77.

Amin and his wife left their residence for the mourning house after performing the subuh, or dawn prayer, and arrived there at around 5:20 a.m. local time. Amin then led a funeral prayer for the deceased Wahid.

Wahid, better known as Gus Solah, is a prominent figure of Nahdlatul Ulama and had dedicated years of his life to advance education at the Tebuireng Islamic Boarding School in Jombang, East Java Province.

Gus Solah, the grandson of national hero Hadratus Syaikh KH Hasyim Asy’ari and younger brother of late Abdurrahman Wahid, Indonesia's former president, is a graduate of the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB).

"He is so kind to me, and I feel close to him. He is a figure, who has served significantly in matters pertaining to statesmanship and religiosity," Vice President Amin noted in a press statement made available to ANTARA.

During his leadership at the Tebuireng Islamic Boarding School, Wahid increased the number of santris, or students, and developed a science-based Islamic boarding school. "This is amazing," Amin stated.

Solah, who ailed from cardiovascular disease, breathed his last on Sunday at around 8:59 p.m. local time after being hospitalized at the Harapan Kita Hospital. He will be laid to rest in a cemetery in the Tebuireng Islamic Boarding School's area on Monday afternoon.
Related news: Jokowi extends gratitude to Gus Solah during Islamic museum inauguration

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Translator: Fransiska N, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Suharto
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