Yogyakarta (18/09/2022), the Javanese Literature Study Program held a public lecture regarding the arrival of Islam to the island of Java. The public lecture entitled "The Arrival of Islam in Java in the 16th Century" was given directly by a lecturer and researcher from Osaka University, namely Ms. Yumi Sugahara. Based on the presentation made by Ms. Yumi, she said that she had conducted two symposiums related to the topic under study. The texts she uses for his research materials are historical materials dating back to the Dutch colonial period in the 16th century.
At the public lecture, Mrs. Yumi explained that in the 14th century, there were many Islamic tombs around Hindu temples, but unfortunately not much supporting information such as manuscripts was found, as a result, it was very difficult to find historical stories from that century. Unlike the 16th century, there are many manuscripts have been found that contain more about Islam, but not many have researched this. Mrs. Yumi also explained that many of the researchers used research objects from the 19th century because they were considered to have various variations and discussions about "Java."
What was reviewed in Mrs. Yumi's public lecture was about Sufism. She explained that Sufism can be divided into three, namely mysticism, ethics, and popular worship. Based on what Yumi has researched, there is an opinion from G. W. J. Drewes who states that the character that is mostly told in the script is Sunan Bonang, the main character of the nine known saints. One of the suluk manuscripts that is assumed to have been written by Sunan Bonang himself is a manuscript stored in the Leiden Library with the Cod code. Or. 1928 in Javanese language and script. The manuscript is assumed to have been written by Sunan Bonang in the 16th century which contains a discussion between Sunan Bonang and his teacher, Syeh Bari, about theology and Sufism.
In addition to the material presentation by Ms. Yumi, the public lecture also held a question and answer session to facilitate and channel things that the public lecture participants wanted to know more about. Through the public lecture entitled "The Arrival of Islam in Java in the 16th Century", the organizer of the activity, which in this case was the Javanese Literature Study Program, hopes that this activity can add to the knowledge of the participants, especially Javanese Literature students.
