Sunan Kudus

Sunan Kudus (Jawi: سونن قدوس), real name Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq (1500–1550) was an Islamic scholar and statesman of the Demak Sultanate. He was a member of the Wali Sanga, a group of nine Islamic missionaries that spread Islam to Indonesia. Sunan Kudus is attributed with the introduction of wayang golek puppetry to West Java, as well as the construction of the Menara Kudus Mosque where his tomb is located.

Biography Sunan Kudus, whose real name was Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq, was born in the year 1500. He was the grandson of ʿAlī Murtaḍā, a prince from the Burji dynasty who emigrated to Java, while his father Sunan Ngudung served as a commander in the army of the Demak Sultanate during the rule of Raden Patah, the first Sultan of Demak. He also travelled to Mecca to complete the Hajj pilgrimage, as well as visited the city of Jerusalem for further education and religious guidance. Due to his influence on the Javanese populace, he was nicknamed Sunan Kudus. He died in 1550 and was buried in the cemetery behind the mosque, where a mausoleum was built around his grave. He was reportedly influenced by the teachings of the Hanbali jurist Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, whose writings espoused a strict adherence to the Qur'an and Islamic shari'at, as well as support of Sufism and the Athari theology. This was due to the fact that Sitijenar preached the doctrine of Wahdat al-Wujud, which was considered heretical and pantheistic by the conservative Kudus. With the assistance of Kudus, Arya was able to assassinate Mukmin and was appointed the de facto Sultan of Demak, although he would be killed in 1568 by Joko Tingkir, the founder of the Sultanate of Pajang.

Kudus was also sent as an ambassador to Pengging, a small kingdom at Mount Merapi which adhered to the doctrine of Wahdat al-Wujud. After the ruler of Pengging refused to accept the suzerainty of the Demak Sultanate and continued to preach Wahdat al-Wujud, Kudus had the ruler executed. However, the tradition of wayang golek has been dated to 1584, hence making it unlikely that Kudus, who died in 1550, created this form of art. Other variations of the origin story replace the mention of Kudus with an unspecified Sunan Suci. The tomb of Sunan Kudus behind the mosque he founded attracts visitors from different places apart from Indonesia. The tomb of Sunan Kudus behind the Menara Kudus Mosque is a popular site for religious tourism, especially with the purpose of ziyarat. His tomb attracts visitors from all over Indonesia, as well as visitors from Malaysia, Singapore and even Australia.