walisongo aka wali sangha

8/19/2019 Walisongo aka Wali Sangha

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Walisongo

The Javanese traditional society knows well and highly respects Walisongo, the nine Walis, Islamic

preachers/ saints who have disseminated the religion of Islam in the island of Java in the 15 th century.

During that period, the inhaitants of Java were very few, only a very small part of the land was cultivated

and inhaited, the igger part was covered y dense !ungles.

The fertility of the land in the pleasant tropical climate was a eneficial factor for the irth and

development of a civili"ed human community. The islanders have for a long time adopted a kingdom

system of their free country, they had kings and #ueens of their own Javanese folk.

The kingdom system was an influence of $indu culture, the original system of ancient government

was Kabuyutanunder the leadership of Ki Buyut % Javanese for &reat &rand 'ather( flanked y several

wise &rand 'athers. The council of the elderly played significant role in the society.

)ince the ancient time, the Javanese have practiced wet rice cultivation and sailing. )ome of themecame rave sailors as echoed in our old famous song * +y ancestors were sailors-. griculture and

sailing have developed for a long period in Java, ecause our ancestors had known astronomy, so they

were familiar with the rotation of climate, meteorology, the direction of the wind etc. ith the knowledge,

they knew accurately the time for cultivating and sailing.

0efore the arrival of foreign culture in Java % and the first influence was $indu culture(, the native of Java

had mastered the knowledge of * et ice 2ultivation, stronomy, )ailing, ayang, &amelan, )ong,

0atik, rt of 'orgery, 3ayment with coins, system of government. They also knew weaving to make

clothes.

The life went on smoothly in ancient Java, they involved in many kind of activities such as working,

trading, art and culture, regular ritual ceremonies etc.

They practiced spirituality, a elief to &usti, The 2reator of the 4niverse, &od.

The native Javanese people are merdiko % Javanese for free(, they are free people who like to help each

other %gotong royong in Javanese( in their societal activities. In daily life, the traditional people of Java


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honor and practice The rder of 6ife % Paugeraning Urip in Javanese language(, which means in all

activities , they have to do in accordance to morality, eti#uette and they are oliged to always honor their

parents and ancestors whether they are still alive or already passed away and they also have to preserve

nature. % Mamayu hayuning bawono in Javanese language(.

)eeing the prosperous condition of life in Java and the rich inheritance of ancient o!ects such as

temples, inscriptions etc., there was an indication that Java had estalished a relationship with people

from other countries. The relation with other countries and culture have influenced positively in the

development of local culture.

The North Coast of Java

ccording to historical data, since the 17th century , the religion of Islam had een introduced in several

haror towns of the north coast of Java including a!apahit , a strong agricultural and maritime country

that earlier had trade relations with foreign countries.

The followers of Islam were foreign merchants and native who confessed to Islam. 6ater on, some court

officials were attracted y the teaching of Tasawuf and akrifat , they also confessed to Islam.

The dissemination of Islamic religion for another two centuries went on peacefully. The oslems adored

the eautiful court culture. The mos#ues in Demak, 8udus and hinterland of Java were uilt with

Javanese style of architecture.

The Preservation of Javanese Culture

t a seminar held in 9ational 6irary Jakarta in ctoer 71, :;;; with topics + The Influence of Islam

towards Javanese 2ulture and reverse-, some noted historians such as 3rof. D. )imuh, 3rof.D. D!oko

)uryo, 3rof.D. $.rdani, 3rof. D. )artono 8artodird!o have e


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arrival of outside influence, the ancient people of Java already have their own elief and culture. During

the process of development in this country, the culture of $indu, 0uddha and Islam never put aside the

Javanese culture, what had happened it was influencing each other, the same with 2hristianity, 2atholic

and 2onfucianism which arrived later on . The role of Walisongo was very significant.

Who are Walisongo?

alisongo consist of =/nine Islamic saints who have disseminated the religion of Islam in Java during the

15th century. They are *

1. )unan &resik % )yekh aulana alik Irahim(

:. )unan mpel %aden ahmat(

7. )unan &iri %aden 3aku(

>. )unan 0onang %aden akdum Irahim(

5. )unan Dra!at %)yekh )yarifuddin(

?. )unan 8udus %)yekh Ja@far )hadi#(

A. )unan uria %aden 4mar )aid(

B. )unan &unung Jati %)ayid )yarif $idayatullah(

=. )unan 8ali!aga %aden ahmud )yahid(


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Sunan Gresik

)yekh aulana alik Irahim was the eldest of the alisongo.

$e preached Islam in Cast Java, particularly in &resik, so he was dued as )unan &resik.

'rom reliale sources among other from- Cncyclopedie van 9ederland Indie-, )yekh aulana alik

Irahim was the 1Ath descendant of 3rophet uhammad through the lineage of $is daughter )iti 'atimah

who married to )ayidina li in i Thali.

Sunan Ampel

)unan mpel or aden ahmat was the son of a wellknown Islamic preacher Irahim smara#andi who

spread Islam in 2ampa or 2amodia as ordered y his father )yekh Jamaluddin Jumadil ura. smara#andi was successful in asking the king of 2ampa to confess to Islam. $e married 2andrawulan,

the king@s daughter. 'rom this marriage, )ayid ahmatullah was orn. 6ater on, ahmatullah ecame a

noted preacher y the name of )unan mpel.

8ing 0rawi!aya of a!apahit Cmpire married to narawati, a sister of 2andrawulan, the mother of )unan

mpel.0rawi!aya confessed to Islam. fter his marriages with narawati, he divorced all his other wives.

$e handed over Dewi 8ian, his former 2hinese wife to dipati ryo Damar , his vassal in 3alemang. t

that time Dewi 8ian was pregnant. )oon after her arrival in 3alemang, Dewi 8ian gave irth to a son ,

aden 3atah. In fact ,aden 3atah was a son of 0rawi!aya.

$e ecame a student of )unan mpel, in the future aden 3atah was crowned as the king of Demak

Cmpire % 2entral Java(. It was the fall of The Cmpire of a!apahit .

Sunan Giri

)unan &iri or aden 3aku or inul Eakin was a son of )yekh aulana Ishak, an Islamic preacher of ra

descent who lived in )amudra 3asai, ceh.

$e was a descendant of )ayidatina 'atimah, the daughter of 3rophet uhammad who married to li in

i Thali.

$is mother was Dewi )ekardadu, the daughter of 3rau/8ing inak )emayu of 0lamangan who was a

$indu. )unan &iri was a cousin of )unan mpel as oth were the grand children of )yekh Jamaluddin

Jumadil ura.

Sunan Bonang


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)unan 0onang or aden akdum Irahim was the >th son of )unan mpel. $is mother was Dewi

2andrawati, the daughter of 8ing 0rawi!aya. )o, )unan 0onang was a grandson of 0rawi!aya.

$e ecame a famous preacher, he had many followers in Tuan. hen he was preaching, he played

onang , a gamelan music instrument. any people of Tuan attracted y his style of preaching

accompanied y onang music. )ince then, he was famous as )unan 0onang.

)unan 0onang had a numer of followers in several places such as Jepara, 0awean, adura etc. 3eople

adored him as a wise and intelligent preacher. $e was very patient and polite to every ody, not only to

his oslem followers ut also to those nonF uslem.

Sunan Drajat

)unan Dra!at or )yarifuddin was the 7th son of )unan mpel. $is mother was Dewi 2handrawati or 9yi geng anila of Tuan. $e lived around the )aka year of 1>;; or 1>AB , during the period of the fall of

a!apahit empire. $e participated actively to help the formation of Demak 8ingdom.

$e was a person of virtue. 'ollowing the teaching of his father, he elieves that if a person had gained a

lot of knowledge %also divine religious knowledge(, he would en!oy good life materially and spiritually. In

this world life, he would e respected y others and e granted an esteem place y llah in the afterlife.

Sunan u!us

)unan 8udus or Ja@far )adi# was the son of aden 4sman $a!i from Jipang 3anolan, neary the town of

0lora, 2entral Java. $e had high knowledge of Islam and the people recogni"ed him as a &reat 3reacher.

$e was also dued as )unan 9gudung.

)ince he was young , Ja@far )adi# like to travel to various places to study, to gain more e


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$e was very generous, person who always help the needy. It was happiness to e ale if to help small

people . C


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Sunan alijaga

)unan 8ali!aga or aden )ahid was a son of Tumenggung ilatikta, the regent of Tuan. $is mother was

Dewi 9awaningrum.

$e was dued as )unan 8ali!aga ecause he liked to meditate or did spiritual deed in the river % river in

Javanese language is kali (. $e did it for the purpose to cleanse his soul and seek divine revelation.

8ali!aga means a keeper of kali % the word kali in this conte


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:. 9yai geng 3anenggak who married with 8i geng 3akar

7. )unan $adi , he ecame 8ali!aga@s successor as the regent of 8adilangu .

>. aden durrahman

5. 9yai geng 9gerang.

)unan 8ali!aga was a charismatic ali with a ig influence in 2entral Java and ataram, he had many

followers, many of his students ecame e


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walisongo aka wali sangha

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