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Wali Songo (Javanese:ꦮꦭꦶꦱꦔ,lit. 'Nine Saints'), also transcribed asWali Sanga, are revered saints ofIslam in Indonesia, especially on the island ofJava, because of their historic role in thespread of Islam in Indonesia. The wordwali is Arabic for "trusted one" or "friend of God" ("saint" in this context), while the wordsanga is Javanese for the number nine.
Although referred to as a group, there is good evidence that fewer than nine were alive at any given time. Also, there are sources that use the term "Wali Sanga" to refer to saintly mystic(s) other than the most well-known nine individuals. Each man is often attributed the titlesunan inJavanese, which may derive fromsuhun, in this context meaning "honoured".[1] Most of the wali were also calledraden during their lifetimes, because they were members of royal houses.
The graves of the Wali Sanga are venerated as locations of ziarah (ziyarat) or localpilgrimage in Java.[2] The graves are also known aspundhen in Javanese.
The earliest Wali Sanga wasMalik Ibrahim.[3]: 241 He is thought to have lived in the first half of the 14th century, according to "Babad Tanah Jawi" and other texts.[4] In a transcription by J. J. Meinsma, he is identified as Makhdum Ibrahim as-Samarqandi. The most generally accepted history, supported by a reading by J. P. Mosquette of the inscription at Ibrahim's grave, identifies his origin from Kashan, modern-day Iran.[5][6] Syekh Jumadil Kubra and Malik Ibrahim are disciples of theKubrowiShafi'i school. Whose jurist isMir Syed Ali Hamadani Shafi'i (died 1384) ofHamedan, Iran.[7][8]
According to Dr Alexander Wain, new research of their association with Gresik suggests the Hamadani penetrated Java between 14th and mid-16th centuries and also explains Kubrawi Hamadani influence widespread in north India and South China and after entered Java, and wain impression that Kubra-Hamadani are founder of Islam in Java.[9] Malik Ibrahim belonged to a highly educated family in Kashan. His great-grandfather migrated fromSamarqand.[10]
According to authorMartin van Bruinessen of the history of Islamic Java: the Syekh Jumadil Kubra, to whom all the saints of Java appear to be related with. It appears that this name, which almost certainly is a corruption of Najmuddin al-Kubra, has attached itself to various legendary and mythical personalities, who have a common thought that they are the ancestors or preceptors of the founders of Islam in Java – an oblique acknowledgement, perhaps, of the prestige of theQubrowi in the period of Islamisation.[11]
Tracing the lineage earlier than Malik Ibrahim is problematic, but some scholars believe that his lineages are of Chinese descent and not Arab.[12] Although hissilsila are listed in various Javanese royal chronicles (such asSejarah Banten) to denote ancestral lineage from erstwhileHindu kings, the term inSufism refers to a lineage of teachers. Some of these spiritual lineages are cited by van Bruinessen in his study of theBanten Sultanate, particularly in regard toSunan Gunung Jati who was an initiate of variousSufi orders.[13]
Although popular belief sometimes refers to the Wali Sanga as "founders" of Islam on Java, the religion was present by the time the Chinese Muslim admiralZheng He arrived during the first of hisMing treasure voyages in 1405–1407 CE.[citation needed] Many of the earliest Wali Sanga hadChinese ancestry both paternally and maternally; for example,Sunan Ampel (Chinese name Bong Swi Ho),Sunan Bonang (Ampel's son, Bong Ang), andSunan Kalijaga (Gan Si Cang).[14] The theory of Chinese maternal ancestry of Wali Sanga was publicized for the very first time in the book entitled "The Collapse of Javanese Hindu Kingdom" (1968), which states that the Wali Sanga are descendants ofChinese Muslims.[15]
Dewi Candrawulan, a Muslim Princess fromChampa, was the mother of Raden Rahmat (Prince Rahmat), who was later known by the name ofSunan Ampel. Sunan Ampel was the son of Malik Ibrahim, and the ancestor or teacher of some of the other Wali Sanga.[16][17]
The composition of the nine saints varies depending on different sources. The following list is widely accepted, but its authenticity relies much on repeated citations of a handful of early sources, reinforced as "facts" in school textbooks and other modern accounts. This list differs somewhat from the names suggested in theBabad Tanah Jawi manuscripts.
One theory about the variation of composition is: "The most probable explanation is that there was a loose council of nine religious leaders, and that as older members retired or died, new members were brought into this council".[18] However, it should be borne in mind that the term "Wali Sanga" was created retroactively by historians, and so there was no official "group of nine" that had membership. Further, the differences in chronology of the wali suggest that there might never have been a time when nine of them were alive contemporaneously.
At first, it was not easy forIslam to enter and thrive in the archipelago. Even in the historical record, in a span of about 800 years, Islam had not been able to establish a substantial presence. Notes from the time of theTang dynasty of China indicated that merchants from theMiddle East had come to the kingdom of Shih-li-fo-shi (Srivijaya) in Sumatra,[19][20][21] and Holing (Kalingga) inJava in the year 674 AD,[22][23][24][25] (i.e. in the transitional period ofCaliph Ali toMu'awiya). In the 10th century, a group of Persians called the Lor tribes came to Java. They lived in an area in Ngudung (Kudus), also known as Loram (from the word "Lor" which means North). They also formed other communities in other areas, such as inGresik. The existence of the gravestone of Fatimah binti Maimun bin Hibatallah in Gresik, dated to the 10th century AD, is considered evidence of the incoming migration of the Persian tribes.[26][27]
In his notes,Marco Polo relates that when returning from China to Italy in 1292, he did not travel via theSilk Road, but instead traveled by sea towards thePersian Gulf. He stopped inPerlak, a port city inAceh. According to Polo, in Perlak there were three groups, namely (1) ethnic Chinese, who were allMuslims; (2) Western (Persians), also entirelyMuslim; and (3) indigenous people in the hinterland, who worshipped trees, rocks, and spirits.[28][29] In his testimony, he said regarding the "Kingdom of Ferlec (Perlak)" – "This kingdom, you must know, is so much frequented by the Saracen merchants that they have converted the natives to the Law of Mohammet — I mean the townspeople only, for the Java hill-people live for all the world like beasts, and eat human flesh, as well as all other kinds of flesh, clean or unclean. And they worship this, that, and the other thing; for in fact the first thing that they see on rising in the morning, that they do worship for the rest of the day.[30][31]
One hundred years after Polo, the Chinese Muslim AdmiralZheng He came toJava in 1405. When he stopped inTuban, he noted that there were 1,000Chinese Muslim families there. InGresik, he also found there were 1,000Chinese Muslim families, with the same amount reported in Surabaya.[32] On Zheng He's seventh (and last) visit toJava in 1433, he invited his scribe namedMa Huan. According to Ma Huan, the Chinese and the Arab population of the cities on the northern beaches ofJava were all Muslim, while the indigenous population were mostly non-Muslim animists.[33]
Multiple sources and conventional wisdom agree that the Wali Sanga contributed to the propagation of Islam (but not its original introduction) in the area now known as Indonesia. However, it is difficult to prove the extent of their influence in quantitative terms such as an increase in the number of adherents or masjids in the areas of their work in contrast to localities where they were not active.[34][35][36][37]
Some of the family relationships described below are well-documented; others are less certain. Even today, it is common in Java for a family friend to be called "uncle" or "brother" despite the lack ofblood relationship.
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