Indonesia as a country with the largest Muslim population in the world should produce the best religious films that teach this nation about values and religion. Indonesia deserves to have many of the best regional films for consumption. However, we still see that this great nation still produces a lot of entertainments that are sometimes less educational.
In this article, we have selected at least 20 of the best Indonesian religious films that we think are good and worthy of being watched. The following films are all creations of the nation’s children who grew up in a country with the largest Muslim population. Hopefully it can entertain you all, but what is more important is not the relationship but the meaning in the film or the message to be conveyed.
List of Indonesian Islamic Movies Worth Watching
1. Film Sang Kiyai (2013)
This is a film of struggle wrapped in an Islamic frame. The film tells about the struggle of the homeland religious leader K.H. Hasyim Asy’ari, K.H. Wahid Hasyim, and his students have been selected for Oscar 86 for the Best Foreign Language category. In this film, K.H. Hasyim Asy’ari and K.H. Wahid Hasyim and his students fought against Japan and its allies in colonizing the Indonesian nation.
2. Negri 5 Menara (2012)
This religious film tells the story of 6 santri who come from different backgrounds in life, but this difference is not a reason for their aspirations. These students were then united by one common ideal, namely “to be able to conquer the world”.
One thing that this film wants to raise is how we can succeed in fighting for our dreams. This is nothing but with one belief, that is “sure you can achieve it”. Some of the places that are the setting for the 5 towers national film are the Modern Darussalam Gontor Islamic boarding school, the Ponorogo boarding school in East Java, West Sumatra, Bandung, and London, England.
3. Mencari Hilal (2015)
Mencari Hilal or “Seeking Hilal” is a religious film that tells about the life journey of a father and his son who always have different opinions, be it in terms of religion, mindset or in terms of tradition so that there are often quarrels and disputes between the two.
This best religious film will lead you to find a father who is religious, obedient to tradition and a stubborn and stubborn child who always clashes with his father. This is the work of Ismail Basbeth, here you will find various recent issues which are then addressed by religion.
4. 3 hati dua dunia, Satu Cinta (2010)
Furthermore, the best Islamic film that is suitable for you to watch is “3 Hati, Dua Dunia, Satu Cinta” which came out in 2010. This religious film tells about the love between religions. Indeed, it is always interesting to watch when it comes to love between religions. You see, things like this happen a lot in society.
This film stars Reza Rahardian, Laura Basuki and Arumi Bachsin, if you are having the same case in your love, there’s nothing wrong with watching this film and seeing what the conclusion is.
5. Ada Surga di Rumahmu (2015)
If you have a heaven in your house, why do you have to go all the way to finding that heaven, at least that is the purpose of the film, which was adapted from a book by Ustad Alhabsyi. The film there is love in your house tells the story of a person who is at the crossroads of his life. He is faced with two problems between serving the boarding school where he studied religion first or going far to pursue his dream of becoming an artist.
For those of you who have an Islamic boarding school background, it seems suitable to watch this film and know how to behave when you are faced with ideals that are different from your educational background.
6. Assalamualaikum Beijing (2014)
This religious film was adopted from the novel by the famous novelist Asma Nadia. The film, which aired in 2014, is a story about a very complicated love journey. From this film you can take a lot of experience and religious knowledge. “Assalamualaikum Beijing” can also spoil your eyes with many beautiful scenery in China.
7. Surga Yang tak Dirindukan (2015)
This film is probably one of the films that many women hate, because this film also deals with polygamy. The best Indonesian film was played by Pras (Fedi Nuril) and Arini (Laudya Cynthia Bella). They live happily with one child named Nadia (Sandrinna Skornicki).
Arini is a very loyal wife and devotes herself to her family, while her husband Pras is a kind, loyal man who loves his wife and family very much. However, all the beautiful, happy stories they live change instantly when Pras meets a woman who has an accident. This woman named Meirose (Raline Shah), please watch it to find out the next story.
8. Perempuan Berkalung Sorban (2009)
Next, Indonesia’s best religious film is the film “Perempuan Berkalungkan Sorban” which aired in 2009. This is a film that tells the story of a young woman who questions ancient and traditional things that she considers confines women. The film Perempuan Berkalurkan Turban was controversial because it was considered to be against conservative Islamic teachings that are still practiced in several places in Indonesia.
Actually, the film starring Revalina S. Temat and Oka Antara tells about the life of a woman today and her mindset towards the world.
9. 99 Cahaya di langit Eropa (2013)
This is a film that tells about the legacy of past Islamic history in Europe. In this film, starring Aca Septriasa, at least we can take a lesson that Islam in its spread does not need to be violent but with science.
The story in this film is through the life story of a human couple who influenced their life in a foreign land. They are Hanum and Rangga, a family who study in a foreign country and live a minority life as Muslims. This film is the result of the adoption of the novel by Hanum, Rais, and Rangga Almahendra.
10. Ketika Cinta Bertasbih (2009)
Ketika Cinta Bertasbih is a religious film taken from a novel by Habiburrahman el-Syirazy. The filming was no joke, from casting to choose the cast to shooting to Egypt to get the same feel as in the novel.
All of this is done in order to get satisfying and maximum results so that the audience can feel what they feel when reading this extraordinary novel. So, it’s natural that this film gets an extraordinary reception and even gets an incredible amount of views.
11. Ku Kejar Cinta ke Negri China (2014)
This is a film starring Ridwan Imam Fadli (Adipati Dolken) and his lover Widya (Nina Zatulini). Imam Fadli did not graduate from school so he was called an immortal student. His name “Imam” is very Islamic but never prays. While his lover Widya is a younger classmate who has graduated from college and has even worked. They have been acquainted for four years, Widya can’t wait because Imam has never graduated from school while Imam is also disappointed with WIDYA because he always has to dress sexy in his workplace.
But later, when the Imam accompanied his friend to the Sam Po Khong temple, he became interested in another woman, a Muslim woman from China.
12. Hafalan Surat Delisa (2011)
This is the best religious film with a different storyline. In this film, the story of a girl named Delisa tries hard to remember every memory she has to be successful in a school exam just because she hopes for a gift from her parents. However, all hopes of delisa were dashed and and were shattered when suddenly the tsunami waves came to destroy her village. Not only that, this natural incident made him part with his mother.
This religious film that was worked on by Soni Gaokasak had become a HIT when it was shown in theaters and was one of the Indonesian films that successfully gained viewers and was a best-seller in 2011.
13. Ayat-Ayat Adinda (2015)
Furthermore, Indonesia’s best Islamic film is Ayat-Ayat Adinda which aired in 2015. In this film tells the story of a girl who has a sweet voice, namely Adinda (Tissa Biani), but this golden voice does not easily make her a member of the Kasidah group. .
The reason behind all of that is his father Faisal (Surya Saputra), his father strictly forbids Adinda from being one of the members of the Kasidah team, he asks Adinda to focus on his school. Another thing that becomes their life challenge is life that moves all the time and they are always isolated in the place where they live. Finally, Adinda understands that her family is like that, her family is considered heretical by others, but Adinda does not understand the meaning of heresy.
14. Cinta Suci Zahrana (2012)
This is another film worth for watching. The film, starring Meida Safira and Miller Khan, tells the story of a smart and intelligent woman who continues to pursue her career. Zahrana is a smart woman who can finish her technical education in a bright manner at two well-known universities, namely ITB and UGM. In fact, he was well known for his skills, so he was invited by universities in China to deliver his scientific speeches.
Success in his career, but not everything that is happy for him because he turns out to have a love story that is not so beautiful. This is known from his age, which continues to age but is not yet married. For those of you who want to know how the twists and turns of Zahrana’s life journey in terms of romance, watch the film.
15. Alif lam Mim (3) (2015)
This is a film that tells about the future of Indonesia. This film is set in 2036 at which time Indonesia has become a country that has changed from many things. Either in terms of government or from a religious perspective. This is completely different from other films, because it is the first dystopian film to describe how Indonesia will be in the next 20 years and this is the work of Indonesian children.
Unmitigated, the process of making this film involved many artists such as Tika Bravani, Agus Kuncoro, Abimana Aryastya, Prisia Nasution, Arswendy Nasution, Cornelio Sunny, Donny Alamsyah, Cecep Arif Rahman and Vendi Solaiman.
Apart from everything that is new and considered good, in our opinion this film cannot be played in Indonesia, where the population has good religious values. This film seems to belittle religion. Even though Islam only teaches goodness. So that if there is a crime, it is not a religion but a person. To say “religion only messes up” is already a bad thing.
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16. ? (2011)
Question mark or “?” is a film by Hanung Bramantyo that has a lot of knowledge and experience in it. One of them is about the importance of religious tolesransi. It is more suitable to say, this question mark film depicts different beliefs according to each religion. All these things are depicted in the character of each film player.
17. Ayat-Ayat Cinta (2008)
Ayat-Ayat Cinta was released in 2008 and is a phenomenal film. The problem is, the film, starring Fedi Nuril, raises the issue of polygamy. So, of course very many are curious to want to watch it, especially women. Fedi Nuril together with his two wives Rianti Cartwright and Carissa Putri succeeded in getting a lot of attention from the audience.
Ayat Ayat Cinta is also a film adapted from the famous novel Habiburrahman El Shirazy of the same title. This film inspired many viewers to become like Fahri, a bright young man who later won an al-Azhar scholarship. However, in our opinion this film still has a lot of shortcomings in acting which resulted in the result is still less like in a novel. People who read novels can lighten their soul everywhere but not with this film, especially maybe because of the background.
18. Haji Backpacker (2014)
This is another great film that makes us blink watching it. Haji Backpacker, which was released in 2014 yesterday, is a film that tells about Mada (Abimana Aryasatya) who lived and grew up in a religious environment. He then had to endure the embarrassment of the chief and invited guests due to his heartbreaking wedding day. At his wedding, he finds out that his future wife Sophia (Dewi Sandra) has canceled his marriage.
As a result of all this, then Mada’s life changed and he left home without a clear direction. Since this time, he rarely prayed even when he knew that his father had died, he did not want to pray unseen. This undue disappointment made his life turn a hundred and eighty degrees. However, his travels as a backpacker around many countries including Arabia made his heart open and returned to healing until he fulfilled his hajj.
19. Dibawah lindungan Ka’bah (2011)
In fact, the film entitled under the protection of the Ka’bah is more of a romantic film. However, the religious side becomes a sweetener and reinforcement for the film starring Hanny R. Saputra. This is a film taken from the novel Buya Hamka entitled under the cover of the Ka’bah in 1978. This film tells the story of Hamid and Zainah, both of whom come from different families, one is rich and one is poor. Hamid is schooled by Zainab’s father and Hamid’s mother works as a maid in Zainab’s house. The frequent meetings at Zainab’s house make them fall in love with each other. However, Hamid’s mother forbids her child to love Zainabb because of the different economy and is overshadowed by the debt owed by her father who sent Hamid to school.
Following this story, Hamid was expelled from his village because he was thought to have touched Zainab. Finally, Hamid traveled to Mecca and performed the Hajj he had always dreamed of. Meanwhile, Zainab kept her promise not to marry except to the hamid she loved. Finally, when Zainab died and this news reached Hamid, the hamid who at that time was in front of the Ka’bah died because he heard the news of the death of his lover.
20. Sang Pencerah (2010)
Another of Indonesia’s best religious films, Sang Pencerah: thus the title is a film that tells the story of the struggle of the founder of Muhammadiyah K.H Ahmad Dahlan. A young Ahmad Dahlan named Darwis, when he returned from the holy land, Darwis changed his name to Ahmad Dahlan, starring Lukman Sardi. After studying for a long time in Mecca, Ahmad Dahlan found it difficult to implement the Shari’a in this country which was considered deviant and heretical.
Armed with a compass, Ahmad Dahlan showed the direction of the Kauman Grand Mosque which was believed to be towards the Ka’bah in the west, but they had been facing Africa. This spontaneously inflamed religious leaders including the Imam of the Great Mosque of Kauman, Kyai Penghulu Cholil Kamaludiningrat (Slamet Rahardjo). Ahmad Dahlan, who has only studied religion for five years, has now made a lot of noise and blames the centuries-old worship of indigenous people.
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After going on the first pilgrimage when he was young, then after establishing the Muhammadiyah organization, KH Ahmad Dahlan returned to performing the pilgrimage.
Those are some of the best Indonesian religious or Islamic films that are good to watch. However, several films among them caused controversy in the community, including the film Alif Lam Mim 3. So, to watch it, someone should guide it like a parent so that children don’t make the wrong decision.