History & Profile of Sunan Kudus in Indonesia: Wali Songo Real Name Ja'far Sadiq

History & Profile of Sunan Kudus: Wali Songo Real Name Ja'far Sadiq

Among the most famous students from the alumni of the Ampeldenta pesantren which was founded by Sunan Ampel, there is the figure of Ja'far Sadiq or better known as Sunan Kudus. 

Ja'far Sadiq was born into a noble family from the Kingdom of Demak. If pulled further, the line of descent to the lineage of the Prophet Muhammad through the path of Husain bin Ali RA. 

His father was Usman Haji bin Ali Murtadha, the brother of Sunan Ampel. Before he died, his father was a senopati or commander of the Demak Kingdom. After his death, Ja'far Sadiq replaced his father's position to expand the territory of the Kingdom of Demak. 

It was through this senopati's position that Ja'far Sadiq spread Islam in the Demak area. In addition to serving as a senopati, he was also appointed as the high priest of the Great Mosque of Demak, as well as a qadhi or judge in the Kingdom. When there was an internal dispute in the Demak kingdom, Ja'far Sadiq then moved to the Tajug area, as quoted from the book History of Islamic Culture (2020) written by Suhailid. In this Tajug area, Ja'far Sadiq is no longer active in politics and focuses on spreading Islamic da'wah. The da'wah strategy that he stretches is through an artistic and cultural approach. He did not directly prohibit people who still adhere to animist beliefs and Hindu-Buddhist religions, but embraced them slowly. 

Thanks to his charisma and flexibility of association, Ja'far Sadiq gained sympathy from the community. In the description of " Walisongo Genealogy: Humanization of Sunan Kudus 's Da'wah Strategy" written by Mas'udi, it is explained that the change of name from Tajug to Kudus was also influenced by Ja'far Sadiq. Thanks to the acceptance of the da'wah delivered by Ja'far Sadiq, the Tajug area was later renamed Kudus, which was taken from the word Al-Quds, a holy city in Jerusalem. For this reason, Ja'far Sadiq is known by the nickname Sunan Kudus. Sunan Kudus then developed his da'wah through cultural acculturation slowly so that it could be accepted by the local community. Evidently, the Kudus mosque which was built during his da'wah has a unique architecture. 

The minaret of the mosque is like a temple. Sunan Kudus succeeded in compromising Islamic, Javanese, Hindu-Buddhist, and Chinese architecture. The teachings of Islam and the strategy of da'wah were demanded by Sunan Kudus from several of his teachers. In the book Atlas Wali Songo(2016) written by Agus Sunyoto mentioned several Sunan Kudus teachers such as Kiai Telingsing, a Chinese cleric whose real name is The Ling Sing, Sunan Kudus also studied kiai from the Ampeldenta Islamic boarding school, and his own father, Usman Haji bin Ali Murtadha. In addition, Sunan Kudus also likes to wander to remote areas such as Hindustan to the holy land of Mecca. 

From his family side, Sunan Kudus married Dewi Rukhil, the daughter of Sunan Raden Maqdum Ibrahim (Sunan Bonang). From his wife, Sunan Kudus has a son named Amir Hasan. After several years of serving and preaching in the Kudus region, Ja'far Sadiq or Sunan Kudus died, but the year of his death is not known clearly. The tomb of Sunan Kudus is located at the back of the Great Mosque of Kudus, Central Java.