The name Kudus is the name given by Sunan Kudus (Ja’far Shadiq) after his move from Demak. The name Kudus is a Javanese translation of Al-Quds, which comes from the name Sucen which means Holy (Graaf and Pigeaud, 2001: 111). Sunan Kudus then decided to name the mosque he had just built in the Sri Sanggramawijaya tomb temple complex as the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the name of the famous mosque in Jerusalem, Palestine which is also known as Baitul Maqdis (Budiman, 45). Western visitors have admired the giant tower since the 17th century which is a sturdy and beautiful building, whose architecture is identical to pre-Islamic Hindu temples. The inhabitants of the “holy city”, Sunan Kudus and his followers, apparently did not feel the need to destroy anything that reminded them of the pre-Islamic Hindu era (Graaf and Pigeaud, 2001: 112).

According to H.J. De Graaf and Th. Pigeaud, Sunan Kudus whose name is Ja'far Sadiq is one of the imams of the Demak Kingdom mosque. It is recorded that the Demak Mosque once had five imams, two of whom were Penghulu Rahmatullah from Undung (often known as Sunan Ngudung) and Sunan Kudus. Sunan Ngudung is the father of Sunan Kudus. In the Hikayat Hasanuddin, it is stated that this father and son were known as religious experts and persistent propagators of Islam. Both of them were involved in the struggle to overthrow the Majapahit Kingdom, and Sunan Ngudung died as a martyr in that battle. Penghulu Rahmatullah was appointed as the fourth imam of the Demak Mosque during the time of Sultan Trenggana, while Sunan Kudus, was the fifth imam of the Demak Mosque at the end of the Sultan Trenggana period and at the beginning of the Sunan Prawata period. Sunan Kudus left Demak and moved to establish Kudus City after there were differences of opinion with the Sultan of Demak in determining the start date of the fasting month (Graaf and Pigeaud, 2001: 108). Another story tells of Sunan Kudus' jealousy towards Sunan Kalijaga who during the reign of Sultan Trenggana had moved to Demak from Cirebon at the request of the Sultan of Demak (Graaf and Pigeaud, 2001: 109-110). In addition, it is also possible that Sunan Kudus left Demak because the desire to live freely and dedicate his entire life to deepening his knowledge of divinity and carrying out works that are blessed by God, outside the Demak palace (Graaf and Pigeaud, 2001: 112).

The titi prey of the birth of the city of Kudus can be referred to through the inscription on the mihrab of the Menara Mosque (Al-Aqsa) in the form of a candra sengkala lamba, which is in Arabic writing. In full, the inscription reads as follows:

“Bismillaahirrahmaanirrahiim. Aqaama bina-al masjid al-Aqsha wal balad al-Kuds Khaliifatu haadzad dahr habru (aali) Muhammad, yasytari . . . izzan fi jannah al-khuldi  .  .  . qurban minarrahman bibalad al-Kuds ansya-a haadzal masjid al-Manar al-musamma bil Aqsha khalifatullaahi fil ardli . . . al-‘ulyaa wal mujtahid as-sayyid al-‘Arif al-Kamil al-Fadhil al-Maksus bi-‘inaayati . . . al-Qodli Ja’far Shodiq .  .  . sanah sittin wa khomsiina wa tis’i miatin minal hijrah annabawiyyah wa shallallaahu ‘alaa sayyidina Muhammadin wa ashhaabihi ajma’iin.”

Meaning:

"In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Has founded the al-Aqsa mosque and this Holy Land, a caliph at the time of the descendants of Muhammad to purchase the eternal glory of heaven. . . to get closer to God in the Holy Land, build the al-Manar mosque (place of light) which is called al-Aqsa khalifatullaah on earth.

. . . the Great and the mujtahid Sayyid (lord) the arief (the one who knows) the kamil (the perfect one) the fadhil (the one who exceeds) the al maksus (the one who is devoted), with the care of al-Qadli (judge) Ja'far Shodiq. . . in the year 956 from the hijrah of the Prophet Muhammad SAW."

The inscription that is still clearly visible above the mihrab of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Kudus clearly mentions the number 956 Hijri or Monday Pahing on October 3, 1549 AD (Cermin, 2005: 15).

According to his genealogy, Sunan Kudus or Syaikh Ja'far Shadiq was the son of R. Usman Haji (who was titled Sunan Ngudung in Jipang Panolan) son of King Priest bin Ibrahim Asmarakandi (Samarkand, Uzbekistan) son of Maulana Muhammad Jumadilkubra son of Zaini al-Khusain son of Zain al-Kubra bin Zainul 'Alim son of Zainul Abidin son of Sayyid Husain son of Ali r.a. husband of Fatimah daughter of the Prophet Muhammad SAW. Sunan Kudus then married Dewi Rukhil, daughter of Raden Makdum Ibrahim, Sunan Bonang in Tuban. Raden Makdum Ibrahim was the son of Raden Rahmat, Sunan Ampel son of Maulana Ibrahim Asmarakandi. Here, the lineage of Sunan Kudus meets the lineage of his wife, Maulana Ibrahim Asmarakandi. From his marriage to Dewi Rukhil, Sunan Kudus only had one son named Amir Hasan. Another story states that from his marriage to the daughter of Prince Pecat Tandaterung from Majapahit, Sunan Kudus had eight sons, namely: Nyi Ageng Pembayun, Panembahan Palembang, Panembahan Mekaos Honggokusumo, Panembahan Kodhi, Panembahan Karimun, Panembahan Jaka (died as a child), Ratu Pakojo, and Ratu Prodobinabar (who later married Prince Poncowati, Sunan Kudus's War Commander) (Salam, 1986: 12-13).

Sunan Kudus lived in Langgardalem. The name "langgar" means surau (place of prayer), while "dalem" means king, so Langgardalem can be interpreted as the king's langgar. It is very likely that during his lifetime, Sunan Kudus lived around the Menara Mosque, just as the Prophet Muhammad SAW lived around the yard of the Nabawi Mosque in Medina. Here, Sunan Kudus lived around a place known as Tajug (Salam, 1986: 30). Tajug is a Sundanese term for small mosques, which in Central Java are called “langgar” and in Minangkabau are called “surau”. The shape of the Tajug building around the Sunan Kudus Tomb complex reminds us of the shape of the paseban usually found in palaces. In front of Tajug there is a building like a guard post for the palace officials (Salam, 1986: 31).

As a religious teacher, Sunan Kudus is said to have had a favorite student named Aria Panangsang from Jipang, but was hostile towards Sunan Prawata from Demak. This hostility with the successor of Sultan Trenggana was caused by Prince Prawata, who was originally a student of Sunan Kudus, then acknowledged Sunan Kalijaga as his teacher. Furthermore, it is said that Sunan Kudus incited or at least gave power to his most beloved student, Aria Panangsang in Jipang, to kill Prince Prawata, because it was considered a great sin to have two teachers at once. According to Babad Tanah Jawi, Sunan Kudus had three students, namely Arya Panangsang, Sunan Prawata, and Sultan Pajang. Furthermore, Babad Tanah Jawi recounts the conversation between Sunan Kudus and Arya Panangsang as follows: Soenan Koedoes ngandika dhateng arya Panangsang: "Wong ngalap-do goeroe ikoe oekoeme apa?" Arya Djipang matoer alon: "Oekoemipoen pinedjahan. Sarehning koela dereng soemerep, sinten ingkang gadah lampah mekaten poenika.” Soenan Koedoes ngandika: “Kakangmoe ing Prawata” (Olthof, n.d.: 46).

According to another story, in the later period, Sunan Kudus once wanted to reconcile Aria Panangsang from Jipang with Jaka Tingkir (Sultan Hadiwijaya) who would later become Sultan of Pajang. It is said that Sunan Kudus summoned Arya Panangsang and Sultan Pajang, his two students who were fighting to come to Kudus. They met Sunan Kudus at the pasowan (Olthof, n.d.: 49). This, however, shows that this great scholar had the will and attention to political and governmental issues.