Abstract
This study aims to describe and explain (1) the hero figure and his worldview in the folktales ‘The Legend of Sunan Kalijaga’ and ‘The Legend of Ki Ageng Pandanaran’; and (2) Sunan Kalijaga’s struggle and patriotism in the two folktales. This research is an exploratory qualitative research. The data of this research were two folktales of Central Java and informants. Data collection techniques by analysing two folktales and notes on the results of interviews with informants. Data analysis was then employed in the interactive model. The results revealed that the hero figure in the two folktales was Sunan Kalijaga. Sunan Kalijaga faced deteriorating social conditions, that is, the condition of poor people and rulers who acted arbitrarily towards the people by collecting high tributes, who were extravagant, and who only focused on personal wealth and power. In the face of deteriorating social conditions, Sunan Kalijaga had a world view of Islamic religious humanism. Islamic religious humanism means humanising humans according to their role as abdullah and khalifah on earth. In addition, the Islamic struggle and patriotism of Sunan Kalijaga were shown in efforts to spread Islam as a rahmatan lil alamin [religion that aims to give universal love to fellow human beings and the universe and is opposed to violence against fellow humans and the universe] by emphasising tasawuf, makrifat and dakwah.
Contribution: This study contributes to conveying the development of Islamic teachings in Indonesia, which were disseminated by Sunan Kalijaga as rahmatan lil alamin, not Islam that developed through methods and teachings of violence.
Keywords: struggle; Islamic patriotism; hero figure; Sunan Kalijaga; folktales.
Introduction
A folktale is a story told orally when people are not familiar with reading and writing. When this tradition developed, the stories contained in folktales were often complemented by supernatural things, character superiority elements, and related figures highly respected in the area. It aligns with the research results (Wardani 2019) that in the folktales ‘Legend of Kampung Jagalan’ and ‘Legend of Kampung Sewu’, it is stated that the two legends are related to the figures of the king of Surakarta Sunanate Indonesia, Sri Susuhunan Pakubuwono II and Sri Susuhunan Pakubuwono X.
Apart from being related to the kings of Surakarta, Surakarta folktale is also related to Walisongo figures. The story of Walisongo is revealed in the Babad Tanah Jawa, where Sunan Giri is the ancestor of the kings of Mataram (Kartodirdjo 2016:116; Moedjanto 2000). Mataram is the largest Islamic kingdom on Java Island, Indonesia. Mataram legitimised itself as a descendant of Walisongo, the propagator of Islam on Java Island. The word walisongo comes from wali and songo. The word wali originates from the Arabic waliyy, which means to approach. For a waliyy, of course, it means being close to God. The meaning closer to the meaning of waliyy is mentioned in the QS. Yûnus: 62, ‘ala inna auliya Allahi la khaufun ‘alaihim wa la hum yahzanun’ [There will certainly be no fear for the close servants of Allah, nor will they grieve]. Therefore, the wali is then identified with the saints (Chalik 2016). Meanwhile, the word songo is derived from the Javanese language, which means nine. Thus, Walisongo means nine holy people close to God.
The lifetime of the Walisongo council was the period of Majapahit’s collapse until the Demak kingdom’s founding (Mujiningsih & Yetti 2015). The emergence of Islam for the first time was at the time of the collapse of the Majapahit Kingdom as a Hindu kingdom. The collapse of Majapahit was then followed by the emergence of an Islamic kingdom on the coast of Java, namely Demak, with its king Raden Patah (Grunebaum 2012:339). Islamisation of the land of Java is a single event, namely the collapse of the Javanese Hindu Majapahit empire. Koentjaraningrat (2015; Kartodirdjo 2016:130) stated that the emergence of Islam started from the coast with the arrival of traders from Persia and Gujarat in India. Besides trading, they also spread Islam. For Islam to be accepted peacefully, there were acculturation efforts between the old beliefs and the values of Islamic teachings. In terms of this acculturation process, Walisongo’s role was dominant so that Islam can be well received in society.
Supriyanto (2009:14) also asserted that before Hindus came to Java, the people had a culture independent of tradition and religion. However, with the arrival of Hinduism, Javanese culture mingled with the Hindu tradition so that the Hindu–Javanese culture was born. After Islam came to Java, Islam also blended in with Hindu–Javanese traditions. In this case, there was a syncretisation between Islam and local culture. In Islamisation in Java, Walisongo knew many things that could be used to spread Islamic teachings in society. Here, art and culture were effective mediums to spread Islamic teachings. It is reinforced by the opinion (Al-Makin 2016), stating that since the days of Singasari and Majapahit, harmony and syncretism between many religious traditions had been practiced as an important part of the pluralism concept. Thus, Hindu–Buddhist figures were retold in Islamic literature with modifications. Moreover, Azra (2005) affirmed that religion and faith are essential parts of national culture and daily life in Indonesia.
Furthermore, in spreading the teachings of Islam, Walisongo had its characteristics. It was done so that Islam could be easy to assimilate and accepted by the Javanese people. Maulana Malik Ibrahim became a ‘healer’ who had medical expertise for the Hindu Majapahit Kingdom. Sunan Giri was called ‘the Pope from the East’ because of his broad Islamic influence. Sunan Kalijaga created works of art that the Javanese people could understand, that is, Hinduism and Buddhism (Purwadi & Maziyah 2005). De Graaf and Pigeaud (2018:30) stated that Sunan Kalijaga is said to have been raised and popularised by the Mataram palace as a protector of the Mataram dynasty and the spiritual people of Central Java. In this respect, Islamic tradition coming later to the archipelago does not erase the previous Hindu–Buddhist traditions but accommodates and adapts them to a new spirit (Bender & Klassen 2002). The Javanese indigenous religions use various forms of arts, such as literature, music or dance, to communicate their philosophy, spiritual teachings or ethics (Chandra 2022:7).
Research on the traces of Sunan Kalijaga as a propagator of Islam is interesting to study, especially through folktales. For this reason, this article analyses the struggle and Islamic patriotism of the hero figure, Sunan Kalijaga in the folktales ‘The Legend of Sunan Kalijaga’ and ‘The Legend of Ki Ageng Pandanaran’. Sunan Kalijaga is the hero in both folktales. A hero is a character who tries to find authentic values in a degraded or deteriorating world (Goldmann 2018). Authentic values are the kindness values in a deteriorating world condition. In seeking this authentic value, the hero figure has a worldview. Meanwhile, the world view is a comprehensive complex of ideas, aspirations, ideals and feelings that link members of certain social groups and compare them with other social groups (Goldmann 2018). The world view of this hero is influenced by the world view of his social group or what is referred to as a trans-individual subject. Meanwhile, folktales are purely oral tradition, meaning that there is no original written source (Danandjaja 2017). This form of the oral storytelling is then documented so that it can be found in writing.
Moreover, studies have never been conducted on the struggle and Islamic patriotism of the hero figure, Sunan Kalijaga, in the folktales ‘The Legend of Sunan Kalijaga’ and ‘The Legend of Ki Ageng Pandanaran’. The ones carried out are the legend of the petilasan [residence] of Sunan Kalijaga in Surowiri Village, Panceng sub-district, in Gresik Regency, East Java. The study concluded that the legend of Sunan Kalijaga’s petilasan contains four cultural values: the cultural value of human relations with society, human relations with God, human relations with the natural environment and human relations with oneself (Haerusalleh & Faizin 2018). The results of different studies were also carried out on the legend of village naming in Demak. The research denoted that in the legend of village naming in Demak, there are teachings of Sunan Kalijaga in the form of the 5P concepts: prasaja, prasetya, pranata, prayoga and prayitna (Rustanti & Indiatmoko 2017:270). Another research was conducted on Kidung Rumeksa Ing Wengi, a song by Sunan Kalijaga with theological studies. This study inferred that in Kidung Rumeksa Ing Wengi, Sunan Kalijaga discussed the dangers of the night from jinn, demons and humans. Thus, Muslims must be able to ward off these dangers by reading the ‘sacred song’ every night to obtain protection from God (Sakdullah 2014:205). Hence, research on the struggle and Islamic patriotism of the hero figure, Sunan Kalijaga, in the folktales of Central Java, Indonesia, needs to be carried out to track how Sunan Kalijaga’s actions spread Islam.
Research method
This exploratory qualitative research focused on research objectives according to the research method used (Creswell 2013). The data sources of this research were ‘The Legend of Sunan Kalijaga’ and ‘The Legend of Ki Ageng Pandanaran’. These data sources were in the form of words, quotes, sentences in ‘The Legend of Sunan Kalijaga’ and ‘The Legend of Ki Ageng Pandanaran’, the struggle and Islamic patriotism documents, hero figure documents, and so on. The data collection technique was carried out through document analysis of the two legends. The researcher conducted data collection activities, carefully read every word, sentence and paragraph in the document, and recorded the data. The data validity employed theoretical triangulation. Meanwhile, the data analysis utilised interactive model analysis (Miles & Dan Hubermann 2014). The interactive model data analysis is cyclical in nature, which is repeated continuously starting with collecting data, reducing data, displaying data and drawing conclusion. In the data collection process, researcher recorded data related to the folktales, the struggle and Islamic patriotism, hero figure, and so on. At the data reduction stage, the researcher classified the data according to the research problem, discarded or stored unnecessary data, and organised the data. At the stage of displaying the data, classification and meaning are carried out on the research data. If the research data are considered not sufficient, then the researcher can return to the data collection stage or data reduction stage to re-examine existing research data. The final stage is the conclusion, see Figure 1.
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FIGURE 1: The interactive model data analysis. |
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The hero figure of Sunan Kalijaga in the folktale ‘The Legend of Sunan Kalijaga’
A hero is a character who tries to find authentic values in a degraded or deteriorating world. Authentic values are the kindness values in a deteriorating world condition. In seeking this authentic value, the hero figure has a worldview. Meanwhile, the world view is a comprehensive complex of ideas, aspirations, ideals and feelings that link members of certain social groups and compare them with other social groups (Goldmann 2018). The world view of this hero is influenced by the world view of his social group or what is referred to as a trans-individual subject.
The hero figure in ‘The Legend of Sunan Kalijaga’ was Sunan Kalijaga, see Figure 2. He faced deteriorating social conditions, that is, the condition of society where the rulers acted arbitrarily towards the people because of high tribute fees, who did not think about the conditions of the poor and suffering people, and who focused on wealth and power alone. Sunan Kalijaga’s world view witnessed the deteriorating world condition influenced by the world view of his social group, namely the Walisongo social group. The worldview in this legend was Islamic religious humanism. Islamic religious humanism means humanising humans according to their role as abdullah and khalifah on earth, based on real, natural and rational principles. Humans are tasked as servants of God and carrying out God’s noble duties as creatures on earth. In this Islamic religious humanism, Islam is a rahmatan lil alamin religion for all creatures, meaning that Islam is a religion that aims to give universal love to fellow human beings and the universe and is opposed to violence against fellow humans and the universe.
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FIGURE 2: Sunan Kalijaga, an Islamic hero figure from Central Java, Indonesia. |
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Sunan Kalijaga’s first name is Raden Said. Sunan Kalijaga is the son of Tumenggung Wilatikta, Duke of Tuban. Although he was the son of a duke, Sunan Kalijaga (Raden Said) hung out with many people regardless of social strata or caste differences. Because of his wide association, Sunan Kalijaga had observed and understood the condition of his community since childhood.
Sunan Kalijaga also saw that many rulers of the Tuban Regency were arbitrary to the people. They collected taxes for the people regardless of the people in poor conditions. When the harvest failed, the rulers of Tuban still imposed taxes on their people. The people’s suffering was also not a burden and concern for the rulers.
Sunan Kalijaga’s father, Duke of Tuban, could not do anything because the tax policy came from the Majapahit Kingdom. Tuban was under Majapahit’s rule, so they were powerless to face these conditions. Facing his father’s helplessness and the people’s suffering, Raden Said also tried to overcome the problem. He committed theft of crops stored in the duchy’s warehouse. The harvest was a tax given by the people. Raden Said had stolen the crops, which were then distributed to the poor secretly. Raden Said’s actions were eventually discovered by the Duke of Tuban, his father. Raden Said received a caning from his father. After receiving the punishment, Raden Said decided to leave the house. Still, Raden Said’s theft did not stop. Next, the theft target was the nobles who were miserly to the poor. The proceeds of the theft were then distributed among the poor and suffering.
One day, when Raden Said stole the property of a stingy rich man in Juwangi, he met an older man in a white robe carrying a stick. With his polite language, the old grandfather made Raden Said aware that the way he helped the poor was the wrong way. Even with good intentions, stealing is still an act that violates religious teachings.
Raden Said then became aware of his mistake. Raden Said’s meeting with this older man caused Raden Said to want to study with the older man. However, before being accepted as a student, the old grandfather put forward a condition that Raden Said wait for the stick, which he plugged in the river until the old grandfather came back to meet Raden Said. While waiting for the stick, Raden Said meditated closer to God and did ngidang fasting (fasting by only eating leaves straight from the tree, drinking raw water and eating like a deer). Raden Said successfully implemented this requirement for 3 years. Raden Said succeeded in doing mujahadah or concerned behaviour to achieve noble goals. After the test was successfully carried out, Raden Said was accepted as a student of the older man, who turned out to be Sunan Bonang. Raden Said was increasingly enthusiastic about studying religion from Sunan Bonang and earned the title of Sunan Kalijaga. Kalijaga means kali in Javanese, which means river and jaga in Javanese, which means guarding. Sunan Kalijaga then travelled to preach and spread Islam in various regions. In another version (Ricklefs 2002), it is told that because of Sunan Bonang’s supernatural powers and wisdom, Raden Said kneeled before him, begging for forgiveness and intending to become his disciple.
Qusyair (2000) also stated that Sunan Bonang’s requirement for Raden Said to wait for the stick he stuck in the river was one of the makrifat sciences Sunan Bonang taught to Raden Said. Makrifat is a human nature who knows Allah SWT by his names and attributes and acts sincerely to Allah with his actions, purifies himself from lowly qualities, and avoids worldly things.
Moreover, Amin (2005) asserted that the steps of Raden Said’s Sufism included:
- the Takhalli phase: the makrifat phase in which a person must abstain from despicable acts in his lifetime. It was carried out by Raden Said through meditation and guarding Sunan Bonang’s stick. During the 3 years of meditation, Raden Said became more aware and realized his mistakes in the past.
- Tahalli phase: the makrifat phase in which a human being adorns himself with good and commendable deeds.
- Tajalli phase: the makrifat phase in which all knowledge is known, and there are no questions that create doubts in humans about God.
In this case, Sunan Kalijaga did da’wah through a cultural approach to get sympathy and empathy from a wider circle. Gradually, this cultural Sharia group inherited from Sunan Kalijaga built a movement base in rural and mountainous ranges.
The hero figure of Sunan Kalijaga in the folktale ‘The Legend of Ki Ageng Pandanaran’
The worldview in this legend was Islamic religious humanism. Islamic religious humanism is based on the relationship between human beings, the relationship among Muslims and the relationship between Muslims and other people (Mas’ud 2002). Religious humanism is also performed by instilling faith. Thus, da’wah must contain compliance with the law set by Allah SWT and instill moral values. In this ‘Legend of Ki Ageng Pandanaran’, Sunan Kalijaga’s worldview was mainly directed at instilling noble moral values in Javanese society, especially its leaders. The hero figure in ‘The Legend of Ki Ageng Pandanaran’ was Sunan Kalijaga. He faced deteriorating social conditions, that is, the condition of poor people, but the rulers prioritised worldly aspects. Sunan Kalijaga’s world view witnessed the deteriorating world condition influenced by the world view of his social group, namely the Walisongo social group. These nine Sunans shared the same worldview regarding the peaceful struggle for Islamisation in Java.
Amin (2005) described the three objectives of Walisongo’s dakwah, including (1) instilling a solid faith in every human heart so that there is no doubt about the teachings of Islam; (2) dakwah must contain compliance with the law set by Allah SWT. One of the efforts of Walisongo in spreading Islamic values to the Javanese community was to form a countervalue to the teachings of Yoga-Tantra, which is based on Malima. According to (Mukaffa 2017) the Malima Tanta teachings consist of mamsha, matsya, madya, maithuna and mudra, where the adherents perform prohibited religious behaviour. This Malima Tanta concept was changed to Moh-Malima, encompassing main [gambling], minum [drinking alcohol], maling [stealing], madat [consuming drugs] and madon [free sex], where the adherents are not allowed to perform those prohibited religious behaviours; and (3) instilling moral values in Javanese society so that a more virtuous personality is formed. The Walisongo instilled Islamic dakwah in wise and noble ways.
‘The legend of Ki Ageng Pandanaran’ also talked about the condition of the Duchy of Semarang, which was hit by sadness because the daughter of Duke Pandanaran I had paralysis. Duke Pandanaran I then arranged a contest. The prize would be given to the person who could heal his daughter. If the winner was a woman, she would be made a sister, but if the winner was a man, he would be married to the daughter and appointed Duke Pandanaran II. One person who was interested in participating in this contest was Ki Jamus. Ki Jamus, with his supernatural powers, eventually healed the daughter of Duke Pandanaran I so that his daughter could walk again as before. As promised, Duke Pandanaran I married his daughter to Ki Jamus. Later, Ki Jamus was appointed as Duke Pandanaran II. Duke Pandanaran II replaced Duke Pandanaran I to lead the Duchy of Semarang. Duke Pandanaran II also became a rich, famous and powerful duke.
Sunan Kalijaga heard about the fame of Duke Pandanaran II. However, Duke Pandanaran II still depended on worldly luxury for his life. Sunan Kalijaga actually hoped that Duke Pandanaran II could become one of the walis. However, a wali must have a simple way of life by giving up worldly things. A wali also should not be arrogant because of power and wealth. Such an attitude did not yet exist in Duke Pandanaran II. Wealth, fame and power would cause him to become arrogant.
Sunan Kalijaga immediately tested the mentality and personality of Duke Pandanaran II on wealth and power. Sunan Kalijaga pretended to be a weed seeker, and then the grass was sold in the duchy for fodder for livestock. The grass sold by Sunan Kalijaga was valued by Duke Pandanaran II for 25 ketengs. When the mound of grass was opened, Duke Pandanaran II was surprised because there was a kandelan inside (keris sheath) made of gold. Instead of returning the kandelan to its owner, Duke Pandanaran II actually desired to own it. This first test failed because Duke Pandanaran II was still attached to worldly things.
One day, Sunan Kalijaga arranged a second test for Duke Pandanaran II. He pretended to be a beggar. The beggar approached Duke Pandanaran II to ask for mercy. However, Duke Pandanaran II always avoided giving away small amounts of money as alms. This test, repeated often to Duke Pandanaran II, also failed. Duke Pandanaran II was angry because the beggar came to him daily. At his last meeting, by force, Duke Pandanaran II gave the money of one keteng to the beggar, to which the beggar answered by saying:
‘I do not need money, Kanjeng Adipati. I just want to hear the sound of the bedug [signal for mosque prayer times] in the Duchy of Semarang.’
The beggar’s words made Duke Pandanaran II even more angry. Then the beggar continued his speech:
‘Sorry, Kanjeng Adipati, do not obey your worldly desires. We humans will not live long in this world. I no longer think about worldly possessions. In fact, if I want, I will get a lump of gold by digging this yard.’ (Wardani 2018:26)
Duke Pandanaran II became angry after hearing the beggar’s words. He ordered the beggar to prove his words. When the beggar was hoeing the ground, it looked like a lump of gold had been lifted from the ground. The more land the beggar dug, the more gold he managed to get. Duke Pandanaran II felt that the beggar was not an ordinary person. Duke Pandanaran II later apologised for his arrogant attitude so far. Duke also expressed his desire to study with the beggar. The beggar granted the request, as long as Duke Pandanaran II met the requirements, including:
- worshiping by establishing faith;
- providing a bedug [drum] to be beaten every prayer time;
- Islamising the community; and
- prioritising zakat (Wardani 2018).
The beggar (Sunan Kalijaga) also invited Duke Pandanaran II to leave all luxury and power to study behind on Mount Jabalkat. Duke Pandanaran II agreed to follow Sunan Kalijaga to Mount Jabalkat. He then handed over all power to the successor he appointed. In every journey, Duke Pandanaran II always got a test of patience. Through various tests of patience, he strengthened his faith. He also studied religion in his odyssey. Worldly possessions and power had been left behind. Sunan Kalijaga then gave the title Sunan Tembayat to Duke Pandanaran II.
Sunan Kalijaga’s struggle and Islamic patriotism in Central Java folktales
The folktales presented used the hero figure of Sunan Kalijaga by bringing the world view of Islamic religious humanism. Sunan Kalijaga is a hero figure who fought for Islamic patriotism through exemplary [uswah hasanah] in the spread of Islam. There were tasamuh, plural, and ukhuwah values, where Islam emphasised the unity and integrity of the people, building civilisation and human values (Mubarok & Rustam 2018). Islam was shown as a rahmatan lil alamin religion or Islam that brings peace and happiness to all people in the world. This is in accordance with the contents of the Qur’an and Sunnah.
In carrying out his dakwah, Sunan Kalijaga united Islamic teachings with Javanese culture influenced by Hindu–Buddhist culture. Sunan Kalijaga’s religious understanding tended to be Salaf-based Sufism, not pantheistic Sufi [only worship]. Sunan Kalijaga was also an adherent of Sufism. Sufism is a kind of syari’ah science that arose later in religion. Sufism emphasises the persistence of worship and severing ties to worldly embellishments other than Allah. Sufism also rejects worldly ornaments and hates things that always deceive people, property and splendor. In addition, Sufism is more of a solitary act towards God’s path in seclusion and worship (Hamka 2014:15).
Patriotism Sunan Kalijaga in the folktales ‘The Legend of Sunan Kalijaga’ and ‘The Legend of Ki Ageng Pandanaran’ as follows:
Sunan Kalijaga and Pandanaran II, who are sons and a ruler, are willing to leave luxury to live a simple life by focusing on activities to draw closer to God. They also do uzlah [seclusion from the crowd to pray].
Sunan Kalijaga and Pandanaran II carry out makrifat by freeing oneself from ego attitudes and lust in order to have a pure experience that makes God a source of knowledge. This makrifat is done by muhajadah [concerned behaviour to strive for noble ideals], takhalli [avoiding reprehensible traits], tahalli [doing noble qualities], tajalli [a pure soul because of the results of takhalli and tahalli], uswah hasanah [exemplary], tasamuh [tolerance], ukhuwah [brotherhood with others] and syari’ah [the straight path in all actions].
In these two folktales, the emphasis is placed on the media of dakwah as a means of spreading Sunan Kalijaga’s Islamic religion. Dakwah is a person’s attempt to convey Islamic teachings to others. The dakwah carried out by Sunan Kalijaga was wise, peaceful, refined and emphasised more on real examples of noble behaviour to his community. Sunan Kalijaga carries out Islamic dakwah by travelling from one place to another teaching and exemplifying good behaviour, making people aware to avoid bad traits and attitudes, and establishing pesantren to learn Islam. Sunan Kalijaga preached that Islam is a religion that is rahmatan lil alamin and puts forward good and forbidding evil. In this amar makruf nahi mungkar, Sunan Kalijaga invites the public to put forward the teachings of goodness in a good way so that it ends well. If religious belief is solid, then humans can avoid things that are prohibited by religion. With his preaching, Sunan Kalijaga hopes that Islamic teaching can become a blessing for the whole earth with a religious-humanist face of Islam.
The research about folktales ‘The Legend of Sunan Kalijaga’ and ‘The Legend of Ki Ageng Pandanaran’ emphasises Islamic strunggle and patriotism through tasawuf, makrifat and dakwah that is different from research (Sultoni 2016:16), which states that the teachings of Sunan Kalijaga consist of (1) meper hardaning pancadriya [suppressing lust]; (2) heneng-hening-henung [in a state of quiet, we will gain clarity and achieve lofty ideals]; (3) mulyo guna panca waktu [inner and outer happiness can only be achieved by praying five times]. The results of this study are also different from the results of research (Sakdullah 2014), which states that Kidung Rumekso ing Wengi (by Sunan Kalijaga) invites Muslims to read this sacred chant every night in order to receive protection from God. The results of this study are also different from the results of research by Abbas, Suparman & Suryanto (2023), Febriyanti and Santoso (2023), Nur and Hadori (2023), and Zuanda and Roza (2023), which examines that wayang is a means of spreading Islam. Research by Pamungkas et al. (2023) emphasizes mantras and research by Wijayanto and Zulfiningrum (2023) emphasises the song Lir-Ilir as a means of spreading Islam.
Sunan Kalijaga’s Islamic patriotism is demonstrated by example of a simple, generous attitude, solidarity with others, and awakening one’s religious attitude in a subtle way. It was also shown through the folktale presented, where Sunan Kalijaga, a hero figure, wanted people not to worship worldly things. They were asked to live a simple life, work together, draw closer to God through worship, and be an example of good values to the community. Figures, such as Ki Ageng Pandanaran II, followed the way of life taught by Sunan Kalijaga. He also left all worldly pleasures to fill their lives more with simplicity and spread the teachings of Islam.
The folktale also explains how Pandanaran II spread Islam according to Sunan Kalijaga’s instructions, that is, through dakwah and establishing Islamic boarding schools. Sultoni (2016) stated that Islamic boarding schools are a place to live for santri [students] to deepen Islam and teach it to Muslims. During their spiritual odyssey, Ki Ageng Pandanaran II established Islamic boarding schools in every area they visited. They also opened new areas, cultivated crops, established Islamic boarding schools and developed Islamic dakwah media. Javanese Islam modifies the view of divinity with tradition to accommodate and compromise theological and spiritual values between Islamic teachings and Javanese culture (Van Bruinessen 2015). Based on historical data, the Islamic boarding schools were founded by all Walisongo.
Sunan Kalijaga, as a religious leader, truly protects the community. The real-life examples of Sunan Kalijaga was the Prophet Muhammad SAW as innama bu’istu liutammima makarim al-akhlaq [his presence perfects character]. If it is related to Lickona’s theory, Sunan Kalijaga spread Islam not only at the level of moral knowledge but also at the level of moral feeling, which was then implemented in moral behaviour. This exemplary life was a form of the moral behaviour of Sunan Kalijaga. In other words, morals are not only cognitive or affective but are also followed up in actions in everyday life.
Sunan Kalijaga emphasises a simple life attitude to his followers. When he saw people worshiping worldly wealth and power more than caring for others and God, Sunan Kalijaga made him aware of it politely. Then, the person was invited to know Islam. The simple attitude of life was shown through the character of Ki Ageng Pandanaran II, who chose to leave his wealth and great power to follow Sunan Kalijaga. The most important thing was his spiritual life as a preacher of Islam to spread divine values to society. Pandanaran II also opened agricultural land, developed dakwah, and founded a boarding school in a new place. Furthermore, Sunan Kalijaga and his followers always lived in remote areas, such as mountains and newly opened villages. It could be seen through the character Ki Ageng Pandanaran II, who was asked to leave his duchy to go into exile and opened new land. There, he also spread Islam and did a meditation to get closer to God.
Conclusion
The main character and hero figure in the folktales ‘The Legend of Sunan Kalijaga’ and ‘The Legend of Ki Ageng Pandanaran’ was Sunan Kalijaga, who carried the value of Islamic religious humanism in overcoming deteriorating social conditions in society. This deteriorating social condition was because of the rulers prioritising worldliness and power. The lives of the poor were also not given much attention. To overcome this deteriorating social condition, Sunan Kalijaga introduced Islam, which is rahmatan lil alamin. Sunan Kalijaga’s struggle and Islamic patriotism are carried out through the teachings of tasawuf, makrifat and dakwah in a wise, peaceful, gentle and humane manner. Sunan Kalijaga gave more concrete examples of Islamic behaviour to the public, showing that Islam is a religion that is amar makruf nahi mungkar, leading to a religion that is rahmatan lil alamin. In these two folktales it is shown how the rulers or the sons of the rulers who are used to living in wealth and power live tasawuf by leaving all worldly luxuries and living simply to serve God.
Acknowledgements
Competing interests
The author declares that no financial or personal relationships inappropriately influenced the writing of this article.
Author’s contributions
The author of this article has substantially contributed to the conception and design of the study, data acquisition, analysis and interpretation of data, drafting the article and revising it critically for significant intellectual content and final approval of the version to be submitted.
Ethical considerations
This article followed all ethical standards for research without direct contact with human or animal subjects.
Funding information
This research was funded by DRPM the Ministry of Education, Culture, research and Technology Republic of Indonesia.
Data availability
This publication is supported by some data available on the locations stated in the references. All data supporting this research are provided as additional information accompanying this article. All data are provided in the result section of this article.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any affiliated agency of the author.
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