Habib Jafar Adapts 'Seni Merayu Tuhan' Book into Feature Film

Pendakwah Husein Ja’far Al Hadar, familiarly known as Habib Jafar, has officially expanded his preaching reach to the big screen through a drama film titled Seni Merayu Tuhan. The film is an adaptation of his best-selling book, which was initially only planned for release on the YouTube platform. Habib Jafar emphasised his total involvement in the film’s production process. He oversaw the script development from the initial idea stage right through to the completion of the final draft to ensure the message conveyed remains aligned with the vision of his book. “I was involved directly from the start. From the initial idea discussions, then with each scriptwriter, from draft 1 to draft 14, I was always present. One draft could take two days of meetings. I wanted this work to truly be in accordance with the book’s values,” Jafar said when met at the National Library in Jakarta on Thursday. For Jafar, this project is not merely a commercial film promotion, but an effort to invite audiences to search for the meaning of life. He was inspired by Viktor Frankl’s work, Man’s Search for Meaning, which shares a similar spirit with this film. This step is also the realisation of lengthy discussions with prominent figures such as Gus Mus and Prof. Quraish Shihab regarding the importance of “dakwah by film”. Jafar hopes audiences can glean life lessons when the film begins screening in cinemas on 13 August. Producer Salman Aristo explained that Seni Merayu Tuhan tells the journey of a young man named Hikmah, played by Ari Irham, during his coming-of-age phase. The story highlights Hikmah’s lowest point when he loses his mother, which then leads him on a search for the meaning of family, love, and loss. Beyond being a work of art, the film acts as a driver for literacy. The production house, Wahana Kreator, collaborated with the National Library of Indonesia (Perpusnas) and Mizan Pustaka to increase public reading interest. Quoting Tan Malaka, Jafar stressed that books are the foundation of a nation’s progress. Member of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Rieke Diah Pitaloka, proposed the launch of the film Seni Merayu Tuhan at the National Library as a form of strengthening national literacy.