Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body part II - The Verses of Love (Ayat-ayat Cinta)

I am never a fan of novels in Malay especially those related to love and life. Ahadiat Akasha once made a storming trend with his novels back then in 1990s but it never could catch an eye of me. The last pieces I've read in Malay were 'Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Political Biography' (Biografi Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra) by Prof. Datuk Dr. Ramlah Adam, a UM scholar and another piece by late National Laureate (Sasterawan Negara) Abdullah Hussain, called 'Interlok'.

It was sometime in last year that I saw Firdaus keep bringing this novel entitled 'The Versus of Love' (Ayat-ayat cinta) everywhere he goes and even Kak Enn and Kak Mar borrowed it from him (He got the novel posted from Malaysia by a friend). But I never took it seriously although I've heard a few conversations from them related to this novel and its debut on the silver screen (I thought it was just another motivational piece like 'Don't Be Sad' by Aaidh ibn Abdullah al-Qarnee). But one fine evening after we dine at Castromu (Neshi, Yana and Hanin's apartment) in celebration of Kak Jal's Japan homecoming, they have it viewed for all the guests.

This Indonesian movie comes with the same title with the novel which stars Fedi Nuril as Fahri, the protagonist in this piece surrounded by four beautiful, distinctfully different characters of women portrayed by Carissa Putri as Maria Girgis, Melanie Putria as Nurul, Zaskia Adya Mecca as Noura and Rianti Cartwright as Aisha. After a sensational view of this beautifully potrayed Islamic love story that saw Kak Mc eyes who sits next to the Tv turns red, the urge to get this novel and read it personally becomes higher.

Aisha, a good and wonderful wife but hardly knows the past of his newly-wed husband

'The Verses of Love' is nevertheless a love story. But seriously it is not just another ordinary love story. This story centered around how Fahri, a Masters student of Al-Azhar University, Cairo in Egypt deals with his daily ups and downs by Islamic approaches. He came from an Indonesian poor farmer family who sold their only ancestral farmland in order to send him to study in Al-Azhar. In Cairo, he did a part-time job doing translation works on books from Arabic to Indonesian to cater for his monthly needs. Fahri, an intelligent student and being a disciplined and dedicated one had completed all his predetermined targets step by step but not one, which is marriage.

Voted the best scene by me, Ashraf and Mon.

In my personal view, Fahri faced a problem in searching for 'the one' due to his nature which is so 'straight' in the meaning of honesty and fairness in approaching women that makes him never knew the meaning of 'love before marriage'. He definitely not articulated in dealing with women.
The conflict starts in his naive life when four women enters his life, each with different backgrounds and characters but with only one similarity, all of them adored him so much that they want him to be their future husband. Fahri, being nice to all of them hardly could 'read between the lines' of what could be described as a deep, extreme and secret admiration towards him that only being conveyed by the women through little sweet thoughts and actions (as little as naughty but shy eye contacts). This piece had also somehow demonstrated that a marriage (although being initiated by Islamic ways of 'taaruf' without any pre-datings and love periods) should never neglect the idea of knowing your partner at the best rate that you could before pursuing to marriage (It will surely be hard and shocking for Aisha to accept the fact that many had fell for Fahri before).

Maria and Fahri at the banks of the River Nile

Best dialogue (in Bahasa Indonesia):

Fahri:Sebelum aku ke sini, cuma ada dua hal yg bikin aku kagum sama Mesir. yaitu Al-Azhar dan Sungai Nil. karena tanpa sungai Nil, ngak ada Mesir dan nggak ada Al-Azhar.

Maria: Aku juga suka sama, kalau ngak ada Sungai Nil pasti ngak ada Mesir nggak ada perabadan dan yang hanya ada gurun pasir. Kau percaya jodoh Fahri? Aku rasa Sungai Nil dan Mesir itu jodoh.

Fahri:Ya! Setiap orang…..

Maria:Punya jodoh masing-masing..

Maria: Itu yang selalu kamu bilang. Aku rasa Sungai Nil dan Mesir itu jodoh. Senang ya, kalau kita bisa bertemu jodoh yang diberikan Tuhan dari langit.

Fahri: Bukan dari langit Maria, tapi dari hati. Dekat sekali.(saling berpandang mata)…

Maria, a broad-minded Christian Coptic girl daughter to Mr. Boutros which live in the apartment above Fahri's secretly fell in love with the beauty of Islam and also to Fahri (things she only reveals in her diary). She wonderfully could memorized and recites some of the Holy Quran verses particularly Surah Maryam (Mary in Semitic, the mother of Isa Al-Masih (Jesus)).

Nurul, also an Indonesian and a student of Al-Azhar, is a daughter of a renowned cleric Muslim Scholar called as 'ulama'. She had adored and fell for Fahri for long but never revealed her intentions directly. On the other hand Fahri, out of his inferiority complex as a farmer's son ditched his feelings towards Nurul as he felt that he is never to be the son-in-law of a rich and famous man. This had leaved Nurul in a state of confusion and blurry of what to do next.

Noura, an abused Egyptian neighbor, develops strong romantic feelings for Fahri, who in turn simply sympathizes with her situation. Hardly, it is just practically empathy that leads Fahri to help her at his might but definitely not love. Noura however seems to ask for more. His romantic rejection destroys her faith and logical judgment and eventually leads to a false accusation of rape victimizing Fahri.

Aisha, being 'the one' in this story for Fahri is a German Turkish student in Cairo that haunts Fahri with her beautiful pair of eyes. Since an incident that saw Fahri stood for her against a rigid-minded Muslim, both had fell onto the love boat. The story later unravels on how Fahri made his decision, how the world reacts towards it and the sturdiness of Aisha in defending his husband which she hardly knew due to instant marriage without deeper friendship at first.

I could only introduce this wonderful Indonesian piece in my blog but you all could venture into details of it personally only by watching the movie and later read the novel. The movie of 'Ayat-ayat Cinta' by Hanung Bramantyo is available on DVDs in Asian countries and could be viewed segmentally on YouTube. The novel by Habiburrahman El Shirazy is on sale at all prominent bookstores and the PDF version of it could also be downloaded via the internet.

I had my hard-cover piece bought by Mr. Azizi a.k.a Mon at Popular Bookstore before his visit to Kyoto and view Neshi's DVD. This book and movie should somehow widen your view towards Islam and its teaching as well as giving you some guide in searching for 'the one' in your life. However, as imperfect me could never be compared with this pious Fahri, I personally thought that a hope to get 'the one' as wonderful on the inner and the outer such as Aisha is too much for me. But the journey goes on and we will never know where this route designated by God will lead us to. Let's work and pray for the best as it is OK to shoot for the stars but hit the moon apart from not shooting at all.

Hereby is its movie theme song by Rossa and my fav trailer.