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The Wali Songo are
revered throughout Indonesia as the wise men who brought Islam initially
to Java but ultimately throughout the isles. Wali, which is used today
to denote a civic leader as in Wali Kota or Mayor, Songo means nine.
History though likes to play tricks with us and while their legacy is
clear who they were and indeed how many there were is less clear. They
rose to prominence along the north coast of java as the Majapahit
empire, predominately Hindu, was fading.
Sunan Gunungjati
As well as being active
in early Muslim entities such as Banten and Demak, Gunungjati is
credited as the founder of Cirebon, another port city on the north coast
of Java, some 4 hours from Jakarta by rail. Some stories have him coming
from the Bogor area, others from Aceh. Some sources also call him
Fatihillah who fought the Portuguese in the early 16th century. His tomb
lies north of
Cirebon alongside the tomb of his first wife who was
Chinese.
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Sunan Kudus
Kudus is in Central
Java just to the east of Semarang. The town was founded by Sunan Kudus
who also built a mosque here called Masjid Al-Aqsa after the one in
Jerusalem using, rumour has it, doors from a Majapahit palace. His tomb
lies behind the mosque and every year on 10 Muharram in the Islamic
calender the curtains round the resting place are changed. The date is
interesting, it is a holy day in the Shia calendar when they recall the
martyrdom of Hussain and maybe is a legacy of Persian traders in far off
days.
Sunan Giri
This chap is believed
to be the son of a Hindu Princess from Balambangan and a Melakan
missionary. He studied in Melaka and is credited with spreading Islam
east to Sulawesi, Lombok and Malaku. He also studied under Sunan Ampel
and married his daughter. He stayd in East Java and started schools in
Gresik, just north of Surabaya.
Sunan Kalijaga
Just north of Kudus,
nearer the coast, lies the town of Demak. It was Demak who finally
overthrew Majapahit and became the leading power in the region, rivaling
Banten. Masjid Agung here is reckoned to be the oldest mosque in java,
built in 1466. Legend has it the mosque was constructed in one night by
the wali songo and one of the pillarfs was made by Sunan Kalijaga using
scraps of wood welded together. Many early Demak leaders are buried by
the mosque while Kalijaga himself was buried a couple of miles away in
Kadilangu.
Sunan Ampel
He was born in Champa
somewhere in South Vietnam but found his way to Surabaya. He is believed
to have been the leader of the wali songo and his mosque, Masjid Ampel,
is considered one of the most important in Surabaya. Two other wali
songo were Bonang and Drajad who were sons of his while as
we have seen he was close to Sunan Giri. He was regally well connected
with family ties to both Majapahit and the Sultan of Demak.
Sunan Muria
Thought to be a son of
Sunan Kalijaga, Muria is seen as sympathetic t Javanese culture and used
traditional methods like gamelan and wayang in his teachings which
appealed to the lower levels of javanese society where he spent much of
his time.
Maulana Malik Ibrahim
The first of the wali
songo, his origins are unclear. He died in Gresik in 1419 and his
tombstone was shipped in from Gujerat where it had been intricately
carved from white marble.
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