SHAH ALAM, Oct 7 — The Selangor government regarded the death of renown religious scholar Tan Sri Hassan Azhari as the loss of a gem in the religious field.

Mentri Besar Amirudin Shari said Hassan had contributed a lot in the field of religion, especially in Quran studies, in the country.

"He was also the Islamic religious teacher to the royal family, including His Majesty Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah since the time of the sultan’s grandmother and father.

"And because of his (Hassan) deeds, His Majesty (Selangor Sultan) consented to him (Hassan) to be buried at the royal mausoleum befitting his contributions to the country,” he told reporters after Hassan’s funeral at the Shah Alam Royal Mausoleum, Section 5 here today.

Also present at the funeral were the Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah and the Tengku Laksamana of Selangor, Tengku Sulaiman Shah.

Hassan, 90, who often served as a judge during the Annual Quran Reading Assembly, died of lymphoma cancer at about 5pm yesterday at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital.

His remains were buried at the royal mausoleum at about 9.40am after the funeral prayers which were held at the Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Mosque here.

Amirudin expressed his condolences to Hassan’s family members on the death of their loved one and hoped Allah would grant them patience in facing this test. — Bernama