Sunan Ampel
Encyclopedia
Sunan Ampelwas one of Wali Songo, who spread Islam in Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...

. He can be considered a focal point of the wali songo, because several of them were descended from him and/or studied with him.

Local legend says that he built the great mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...

 of Demak Masjid Agung Demak
Masjid Agung Demak
Masjid Agung Demak is one of the oldest mosques in Indonesia, located in the center town of Demak, Central Java Indonesia...

 in 1479 CE , but other legends attribute that work to Sunan Kalijaga
Sunan Kalijaga
Sunan Kalijaga , born as Raden Mas Said son of a Regent of Tuban in East Java, Indonesia, was one of the "nine saints" of Islam . Initially a grass salesman, the "Kalijaga" title was derived from an orchard known as "Kalijaga" in Cirebon. Other accounts suggest the name derives from his hobby of...

.

Genealogy

A long lineage indicates that Sunan Ampel was a descendant of Ahmad al-Muhajir
Ahmad al-Muhajir
Ahmad al-Muhajir also known as Al-Imam Ahmad bin Isa was the descendant of Ali bin Abu Talib and Fatimah bint Muhammad, the daughter of Muhammad. He was the son of ‘Isa the son of 'Ali al-Uraidhi who was the fourth son of Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq, a fifth generation descendant of the Prophet Muhammad...

, a Hadhramaut
Hadhramaut
Hadhramaut, Hadhramout, Hadramawt or Ḥaḍramūt is the formerly independent Qu'aiti state and sultanate encompassing a historical region of the south Arabian Peninsula along the Gulf of Aden in the Arabian Sea, extending eastwards from Yemen to the borders of the Dhofar region of Oman...

 saint who migrated from Basra
Basra
Basra is the capital of Basra Governorate, in southern Iraq near Kuwait and Iran. It had an estimated population of two million as of 2009...

 (now in Iraq) to Yemen to avoid strife during the Abbasid Caliphate.

However, another theory claims that Sunan Ampel had Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....

 ancestry and identifies him as Bong Swi Hoo.

The two theories are not mutually exclusive, because Muslims from China interacted extensively with southeast Asia during the time of Zheng He
Zheng He
Zheng He , also known as Ma Sanbao and Hajji Mahmud Shamsuddin was a Hui-Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat and fleet admiral, who commanded voyages to Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and East Africa, collectively referred to as the Voyages of Zheng He or Voyages of Cheng Ho from...

. It was also common for a Muslim man to marry a local woman when settling far from his country of origin.

The father of Sunan Ampel was Maulana Malik Ibrahim also known as Ibrahim as-Samarkandy ("Ibrahim Asmarakandi" to Javanese ears). His mother was a princess of Champa
Champa
The kingdom of Champa was an Indianized kingdom that controlled what is now southern and central Vietnam from approximately the 7th century through to 1832.The Cham people are remnants...

 and Sunan Ampel was born there in 1401 CE.

Sunan Ampel came to Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...

 in 1443 CE, possibly to visit his aunt Dwarawati, a princess of Champa
Champa
The kingdom of Champa was an Indianized kingdom that controlled what is now southern and central Vietnam from approximately the 7th century through to 1832.The Cham people are remnants...

 who was married to Kertawijaya, the king of Majapahit.

Sunan Ampel married Nyi Gede Manila, daughter of a Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....

 captain at Tuban
Tuban
Tuban is a town located on the north coast of Java, in Tuban Regency, approximately 100 km west of Surabaya, the capital of East Java. Tuban is surrounded by Lamongan in the east, Bojonegoro in the south and Rembang, Central Java in the west....

 named Gan Eng Cu. This marriage produced several children: sons Sunan Bonang
Sunan Bonang
Sunan Bonang, whose real name was Raden Maulana Makdum Ibrahim, was born in Tuban, East Java in 1465 CE and died in 1525 CE at Pulau Bawean.He was one of the Wali Songo, along with his father Sunan Ampel and his brother Sunan Drajat....

 and Sunan Drajat
Sunan Drajat
Sunan Drajat was born in 1470 CE. He was one of the Wali Songo, along with his father Sunan Ampel and his brother Sunan Bonang.He was a descendant of Majapahit nobility in Tuban and a Chinese captain named Gan Eng Cu. ....

 became wali songo; daughter Syarifah became the wife of Sunan Ngudung and the mother of Sunan Kudus
Sunan Kudus
Sunan Kudus , founder of Kudus, is considered to be one of the Wali Sanga of Java, IndonesiaHe is said to have originated the wayang golek, and founded the masjid at Kudus using the doors from the palace of Majapahit.- History :He was born Jaafar As-Sadiq, the son of Sunan Ngudung and Syarifah ,...

 ; and another daughter became the first wife of Raden Patah and mother to Trenggana, who succeeded his father as leader of the Sultanate of Demak
Sultanate of Demak
The Sultanate of Demak was Javanese Muslim state located on Java's north coast in Indonesia, at the site of the present day city of Demak. A port fief to the Majapahit kingdom thought to have been founded in the last quarter of the 15th century, it was influenced by Islam brought by Arab and...

.

Some sources suggest that Raden Patah was the cousin of Sunan Ampel.

Sunan Ampel died in Demak in 1481 CE.

See also

  • Islam in Indonesia
    Islam in Indonesia
    Islam is the dominant religion in Indonesia, which also has a larger Muslim population than any other country in the world, with approximately 202.9 million identified as Muslim as of 2009....

  • The spread of Islam in Indonesia (1200 to 1600)
    The spread of Islam in Indonesia (1200 to 1600)
    Islam was brought into Indonesia by traders from Gujarat, India during the eleventh century, although Muslims had visited the archipelago early in the Muslim era. By the end of the 16th century, Islam, through conversion, had surpassed Hinduism and Buddhism as the dominant religion of the peoples...

  • Ali al-Uraidhi ibn Ja'far al-Sadiq
    Ali al-Uraidhi ibn Ja'far al-Sadiq
    Ali al-Uraidhi ibn Ja'far al-Sadiq, better known simply as Ali al-Uraidhi, was the son of Ja'far al-Sadiq and the brother of Musa al-Kadhim, Isma'il, Abdullah al-Aftah, and Muhammad Al-Dibaj. He was known by the title al-Uraidhi, because he lived in an area called Uraidh, about 4 miles from...

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