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Tsaqofah: Jurnal Agama dan Budaya

41

Islamic Love Stories: How Indonesian Soap Opperas Presented

Islamic Version of Romantic Love in the 2000s

Wina Sumiati, Dept. History, Faculty of Art and Social Science, The Australian

National University, Canberra, ACT

Corresponding Author: u6145888@anu.edu.au & talovetnaya9@gmail.com

Received: May 20, 2023

Accepted: June 25, 2023

Published: June 30, 2023

https://doi.org/10.32678/tsaqofah.v21i1.8378

Copyright@2023 (author)

This work is licensed under a

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0

International License .

Abstract

During Ramadhan month in the 2000s, most Indonesian TV stations used to air Islamic-

themed soap operas. However, the stories of those soap operas did not represent Islamic values.

Rather than showing Islamic messages in their stories, most scenes of those soap operas were all

about melodrama and mysticism. This research aims to analyze and compare two Islamic-labeled

soap operas, Lorong Waktu 3 (2002) and Kiamat Sudah Dekat (2005), claimed as the real

Islamic stories by Dedi Mizwar. While I intend to prove Mizwar's claim, I also will focus on

examining the romantic scenes in both soap operas. I use qualitative methods to analyze the research

objective by collecting primary sources digitally on YouTube and secondary sources in online-offline

libraries. The videos of Mizwars' soap operas are available and open-accessed on YouTube, so

obtaining the relevant primary sources is effortless. After researching, I found that melodrama and

mysticism popularities of many Islamic labeled soap operas did not influence the romantic love stories

of Mizwar's production. Both Lorong Waktu 3 and Kiamat Sudah Dekat beautifully convey how

Islam confines a romantic relationship to Indonesian Muslim society. All in all, this research shows

the filmmaker succeeded in criticizing and changing the image of most soap opera characters that

previously did not represent Islamic lessons.

Keywords: Islam, Indonesia, Love, Soap Opera

Abstrak

Sepanjang bulan Ramadhan di tahun 2000-an, banyak stasiun TV di Indonesia yang

menayangkan sinetron Islami. Namun sayangnya, banyak cerita di sinetron tersebut tidak

merepresantasikan nilai-nilai Islam dan malah berisi tentang melodrama dan mistis. Penelitian ini

bertujuan untuk menganalisis dan membandingkan dua sinetron Islami Lorong Waktu 3 (2002)

dan Kiamat Sudah Dekat (2005) dari sisi cerita romantisnya yang diklaim Dedi Mizwar sebagai

sinetron yang benar-benar Islami. Selain terfokus pada perbandingan kedua sinetron, Penulis juga

akan menganalisis segmen-segmen romantis dari kedua cerita tersebut. Untuk menganalisis objek

penelitian ini, Penulis menggunakan metode kualitatif dengan cara mengumpulkan berbagai

sumber primer secara digital melalui YouTube, dan juga sumber sekunder dari perpustakaan.

Video-video sinetron karya Dedi Mizwar sendiri tersedia dan sangat mudah untuk didapatkan di

YouTube, sehingga tidak ada kendala yang berarti untuk memperoleh sumber primer. Hasil

penelitian menunjukan bahwa kedua sinetron tersebut tidak terpengaruhi genre melodrama dan

mistis dari sinetron Islami yang marak waktu itu. Baik Lorong Waktu 3 (2002) maupun

Kiamat Sudah Dekat (2005), keduanya menyampaikan kepada masyarakat Muslim Indonesia

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Vol. 21, No. 1, January-June 2023

bagaimana seharusnya hubungan cinta yang baik dalam Islam. Singkatnya, produser sinetron

tersebut berhasil mengkritisi dan mengubah imej kebanyakan sinetron berlabel Islami yang tidak

memberikan pesan-pesan Islam secara benar.

Kata Kunci: Islam, Indonesia, Cinta, Sinetron

A. INTRODUCTION

Islamic Soap Operas, Ramadhan, and Muslim Film Maker

The popularity of Islamic soap operas in Indonesia began in the 2000s when

almost all commercial TV stations had at least one Islamic-themed soap opera. The

first popular religious soap opera was Doaku Harapanku which was aired during the

Muslim fasting month ( Ramadhan ) and succeeded in attracting many Muslim viewers

in Indonesia. The success of Doaku Harapanku inspired many filmmakers to produce

Islamic soap operas with a similar genre: melodrama but labeled as Islamic-theme

soap operas, including Doa Membawa Berkah , Hikmah , and Jihan . 1

Since the emergence of the first Islamic soap opera, Ramadhan month has

become the time to air Islamic programs. For Kusri Budiasih, this phenomenon

happens because the character of holiness for Indonesian Muslims could be related

to Ramadhan when all Muslim people are encouraged to be more pious and religious

than in their previous months, so the show of Islamic soap operas during the fasting

month is in good timing. 2 From the perspective of commercial Islam, many assess

Ramadhan month as a more pious market than other times of the year. Claudia Nef-

Saluz, for instance, sees that many producers of soap operas use this opportunity to

sell Islamic theme soap operas to target the majority of Muslims in Indonesia. 3 These

producers represent middle-class Muslim expansion to create Islamic consumerism

through Islam-themed TV programs. The producers boost religious sentiment

through Islamic soap operas, generating an "emotional bond between viewers and

their programs." 4

An example of a Muslim middle-class who expresses Islam through Islamic

soap operas is Dedi Mizwar. His two Islamic soap opera products that become my

research objects are Lorong Waktu and Kiamat Sudah Dekat . Mizwar is a filmmaker and

a PT Demi Gisela Citra Sinema founder who commits to only creating Islamic films

and soap operas. 5 However, he aims to criticize many past Islamic soap operas and

films that do not represent Islam. Mizwar claims that both Lorong Waktu 3 and

Kiamat Sudah Dekat are the answer to convincing Indonesian Muslims that there are

still real Islamic-themed soap operas and used Islamic lessons in their stories. 6 To

ascertain Mizwar's claim, I will examine whether Mizwar's soap operas tell their

1 Yuswohadi, Marketing to The Middle-Class Muslim , (Jakarta: Gramedia Pustaka

Utama, 2014), pp. 124-6. And, See also Herfanda and Kelana, Inspiring Stories , pp. 69-70.

2 Kunsri Budiasih, Penuntun Berani Nolak TV? , Bandung: Mizan, 2004 , pp. 143-4.

3 Claudia Nef-Saluz, “Islamic Pop Culture in Indonesia,” Universitat Bern , 2007, pp.

41-2.

4 Gareth Barkin, “Commercial Islam in Indonesia: How Television Producers

Mediate Religiousity Among National Audiences,” International Journal of Asia Studies , 11, 1

(2014), pp. 1-15.

5 Ahmad Yosi Herfanda and Irwan Kelana, Inspiring Stories: 30 Kisah Para Beken yang

Menggugah , Solo: Tiga Serangkai Pustaka Mandiri, 2008, pp. 69-70.

6 Ariel Heryanto, Identitas dan Kearifan: Politik Budaya Layar Indonesia (Jakarta:

Kepustakaan Popular Gramedia, 2015, p. 100.

Tsaqofah: Jurnal Agama dan Budaya

43

stories based on Islamic guidance, and specifically, I will analyze the romantic love

stories in his Islamic soap operas. In specific, the central question of this study is:

"How did the producer of both Islamic-themed soap operas Lorong Waktu 3 (2002)

and Kiamat Sudah Dekat (2005) convey romantic love based on Islamic values?"

B. RESEARCH METHODS

This research uses historical methods, including collecting historical sources

( heuristic ), choosing the historical evidence based on its authenticity and credibility

( criticism ), interpreting and analyzing the facts of history, and historiography. Because

the research is about soap operas, the primary sources could be easily accessed on

YouTube. Almost all episodes of soap operas are available there. Meanwhile, many

secondary sources are articles and books from online journals and on-site libraries.

In doing the research, I used a qualitative approach to collect and verify

sources. Arditya Prayogy, in his article, states that the qualitative approach is

commonly used in humanities and social science research. A variety of methods in

qualitative research generally are observations, textual and visual analysis, and

interviews. 7 Both visual and textual analysis is used in this research. I found that the

primary sources relating to the study could be easily accessed on YouTube. The film

production company, PT. Gisela Citra Sinema provides the documentation of Kiamat

Sudah Dekat on its YouTube channel. Almost all episodes of soap operas are available

there.

Meanwhile, the series of Lorong Waktu is available on other channels. Several

non-official channels have uploaded the Lorong Waktu in their channels without

changing the series' credibility. To fix the credibility and originality of the videos, I

compare many series of Lorong Waktu from one YouTube channel to others, such as

WAQOF GERBO channel to irinhd and KUTIPAN INFO channels. The result

shows their videos of Lorong Waktu are similar.

Meanwhile, many secondary sources are articles and books from online

journals and on-site libraries. Several writers have done some research about film and

soap operas, including Rachman Ida in her Imagine Muslim Women in Indonesian

Ramadhan Soap Operas, Muzayin Nazaruddin, who wrote an article on Islam in the

Indonesian Religious Soap Opera: Faithfulness for the Sake of Commodification , and many

more. Their writings could be references in analyzing my research study of love

stories of the Islamic TV series in the 2000s Indonesia. Nazaruddin uses the term

"soap opera" rather than "TV series" to analyze Islamic-mystic TV series in the

2000s. The meaning between soap opera and TV series, by definition, is almost

similar. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, soap opera is "a serial drama

performed originally on a daytime radio or television program and chiefly

characterized by tangled interpersonal situations and melodramatic or sentimental

treatment." (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Melodrama and sentimental situations are

the characteristics of soap opera. A TV series is a group of episodes of a television

program, but there is no accentuation of melodrama and sentimental treatment (IGI-

Global Dictionary). Therefore, "TV series" is more suitable for Kiamat Sudah Dekat

and Lorong Waktu .

During the research, some questions were raised in this study. Firstly, does

the filmmaker succeed in bringing a romantic relationship packed in Islamic-themed

7 Arditya Prayogi, “Pendekatan Kualitatif dalam Ilmu Sejarah: Sebuah Telaah

Konseptual,” Historia Madania, Volume 5 (2) 243-244.

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Vol. 21, No. 1, January-June 2023

soap operas? Secondly, are romantic love stories affected by the genre of many

religious soap operas at that time, such as melodrama and mysticism? Thirdly, what

kinds of Islamic symbols on these Islamic soap operas represent Islamic-theme? All

the answers to the above questions I explain in this article.

C. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The Popular Genre During the Release of Lorong Waktu 3 and Kiamat Sudah

Dekat

Lorong Waktu 3 and Kiamat Sudah Dekat were Mizwar's products shown on

the Indonesian commercial TV stations in different times and situations. Lorong

Waktu 3 was aired in 2002 when many Islamic soap operas had a melodrama genre. 8

To criticize those Islamic melodrama soap operas, Mizwar offered Lorong Waktu 3,

although it was a continuity of the previous Lorong Waktu 1 and 2 . Just like other

Islamic soap operas, Lorong Waktu 3 was aired during Ramadhan month. The stories

of Lorong Waktu 3 were about Muslims' problems in their everyday life, such as

poverty, a relationship between children and parents, and romantic love conflicts, but

they were sometimes packed with comedy. To show that Lorong Waktu 3 is a genuine

Islamic soap opera, Mizwar positioned Islam as the solution to overcome all

Muslims' problems.

Interestingly, the way to solve a problem is by inviting the person to a

particular time through a time machine. That future life would remind the person

about their problem, and at the same time, he/she would find the solution. Unlike

other Islamic soap operas then, Lorong Waktu 3 did not show the high difference

between the good and the evil character among the actors and actresses.

Meanwhile, Kiamat Sudah Dekat emerged in 2005 when the mysticism genre

dominated Islamic-themed soap operas. 9 Kiamat Sudah Dekat itself was adopted from

the film of the same title in 2003. Like the characteristic of Mizwar's other soap

operas, Kiamat Sudah Dekat had Islamic stories interspersed with comedy. The re-

emergence of Kiamat Sudah Dekat is also a critique of the domination of Islamic

mystic soap operas in 2005. The story of Kiamat Sudah Dekat itself is about the

struggle of a young man to marry a pious person's daughter. Although it is about a

love story, the soap opera is not categorized as melodrama because there is no

conflict between the pious and the evil within the story. Also, many stories of Kiamat

Sudah Dekat relate to the daily life problems in Indonesia. It seems that both Kiamat

Sudah Dekat and Lorong Waktu 3 have the same genre of comedy and daily life stories

packed with the representation of Islam as the only solution for all human problems.

Nevertheless, the stories of Lorong Waktu 3 vary compared to the domination of the

love story of Kiamat Sudah Dekat .

The table below shows several soap operas dominated by the genre of

melodrama and Islamic-mystic in the 2000s:

No.

Title of the Soap Opera

Genre

Year released

1.

Doaku Harapanku

Melodrama

1998

8 Rachman Ida, Imagine Muslim Women in Indonesian Ramadhan Soap Operas , Chiang

Mai: Silkworm Books, 2009.

9 Muzayin Nazaruddin, “Islam in the Indonesian Religious Soap Opera: Faithfulness

for the Sake of Commodification,” SHS Web of Conferences 33 , 00068 (2017), pp. 1-8.

Tsaqofah: Jurnal Agama dan Budaya

45

2.

Lorong Waktu 1

Islamic

1999

3.

Doa Membawa Berkah 2

Melodrama

2000

4.

Lorong Waktu 2

Islamic

2000

5.

Doa dan Anugrah

Melodrama

2002

6.

Lorong Waktu 3

Islamic

2003

7.

Titipan Ilahi

Melodrama

2004

8.

Rahasia Ilahi

Islamic-Mystic

2005

9.

Kiamat Sudah Dekat ( the series )

Islamic

2005

10.

Kuasa Ilahi

Islamic-Mystic

2005

11.

Suratan Takdir

Islamic-Mystic

2005

12.

Takdir Ilahi

Islamic

2005

13.

Astagfirullah

Islamic-Mystic

2005

Source : data collected and arranged by the researcher

It shows on the table that since the Reformation era, many Islamic titled soap

operas have come out in Indonesia. Started from Doaku Harapanku aired in

Ramadhan month 1998 to the domination of Islamic mystic series in 2005. The data

above explain the kind of favorite soap opera genre of Indonesia's Muslim majority.

Rahasia Ilahi , for instance, succeeded in getting the highest rate of TV viewers in

2005. 10 This popularity was then followed by the release of other Islamic-titled soap

operas and TV series, such as Takdir Ilahi , Kiamat Sudah Dekat , Kuasa Ilahi , etc. Lorong

Waktu and Kiamat Sudah Dekat emerged amid the popularity of those Islamic-titled

soap operas and series. Later in the subsequent discussion, I will explain the love

story specifically in both Lorong Waktu 3 and Kiamat Sudah Dekat, whether

Mizwar's claim about his real Islamic themed soap operas corresponds with its

stories.

Romantic Relationship in Lorong Waktu 3

On Lorong Waktu 3 , each episode has a different story about a conflict in

Muslim life that is overcome at the end of that episode. Several episodes show some

problems in marriage, such as a misunderstanding between a husband and a wife and

divorce. In all 59 episodes of Lorong Waktu 3 , none stories are about a romantic

relationship between an unmarried woman and man, which is forbidden in Islamic

law. For instance, the first episode of the soap opera directly shoots the acting of a

wedding party of Addin and Sabrina. The story's beginning, after Addin and Sabrina's

marriage, shows how a romantic relationship should be between a husband and a

wife. As a wife, Sabrina shows her respect to her husband by kissing Addin's hand

10 Nazaruddin, Muzayin. (2008). Sinetron Religius: Sinetron Islami?. Jurnal

Komunikasi, Volume 2, No. 2, pp. 312-313.

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Vol. 21, No. 1, January-June 2023

before her husband leaves home. In the middle of the story, this new married couple

faces their first problem of a misunderstanding when Addin knows the wife, Sabrina,

feels disgusted to wash his underwear, even though they are already a legitimized

couple. At the end of the story, the problem is solved through the help of a senior

religious man, Pak Haji ( Haji is a label given to a Muslim who has completed the last

principle of Islam: going to Mecca, Saudi Arabia) who invites him to visit a particular

time through the time machine. At that unknown time and place, Addin gets a story

of a couple who has an attitude of forgiving each other. Because of that story, Addin

feels guilty and gets home soon to see his wife.

The above story explains how the producer shows the romantic relationship

of a married couple which is relevant according to Islamic guidance. In Islam, the

definition of romantic love is the heterosexual love between a man and a woman that

must happen after marriage because a close relationship between them can lead to a

sexual desire. Hence, the lovers are strangers to each other before a wedding party

happens. 11 Therefore, the story of romantic love in Lorong Waktu 3 shows an

Islamic message for Muslim audiences enjoying the soap opera. Such a story indicates

that the producer, Dedi Mizwar, successfully brought a real Islamic soap opera that

conveys the Islamic mission ( dakwah ) to the Indonesian public. It proves that his

Lorong Waktu 3 is different from other Islamic soap operas at that time.

However, the romantic relationship between a husband and a wife in Lorong

Waktu 3 can raise a question, especially in how the producer shows the woman's

position on the screen. The producer shows Addin's wife as a homemaker who stays

at home doing household work and waiting for the husband from his job. To analyze

the woman's position in this soap opera, we can see it from the cultural and Islamic

lenses, which most people in Indonesia understand. Firstly, in Indonesian culture,

many writers have concluded the domination of the male position in a family

compared to females. Based on Alfy Amaliananda's finding of gender portrayal in

Indonesia, most Indonesian people still regard women as the main actors doing

household chores. At the same time, men have a responsibility to earn money for the

family. Amaliananda believed that most soap opera stories on TV could represent the

reality of gender roles in Indonesia. 12 In his Women's Role in Indonesia , Pedersen also

adds that Indonesian society's understanding of defining women's place in a family

hinders female empowerment. 13 Pedersen's argument is unsurprising, given that most

Indonesian women do not complete tertiary education. Specifically, Ariane Utomo

recorded data from the 2010 population census in Indonesia that 'there were 76

tertiary-educated men for every 100 tertiary-educated women. The data from 2010

that shows how male domination was still high that year indirectly explains that the

number of uneducated women in 2002 (when Lorong Waktu 3 aired) was higher. 14

These arguments are the main reason for the domination of Indonesian men as

income-gatherers.

As most Indonesians are Muslims, their views on placing women in a family

are also based on Islamic culture and law. In Islamic tradition, men are the head of a

11 “Islamic Ideas of Love,” in Romantic Love in Cultural Context , by Victor

Karandashev, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing, 2017, pp. 7-11.

12 Alfy Amaliananda, et. al., “Gender-Role Portrayals in Indonesian Movies,” Faculty

of Psychology, YARSI University , pp. 1-6.

13 Jon Andre Pedersen, “Women’s Role in Indonesia,” Intercultural Communication for

the Global Workplace , 1009IBA, 30 April 2012, pp. 1-11, published in www.academia.edu .

14 Ariane Utomo, “A Woman’s Place,” Inside Indonesia , 120: April-June 2015.

Tsaqofah: Jurnal Agama dan Budaya

47

family, which is why they should become money providers for their wives and

children. In one of the Qur'an sections: An-Nisa: 34, it is said that "men are

protectors of women, for Allah has made some of them excel others and because

they spend their wealth on them," which means men have more significant

responsibility for either fulfilling household's needs than women or protecting their

family. 15 It is unsurprising if some scholars, like Shamim Samani and Farhad Kazemi,

claim that the Islamic tradition discriminates against women in some aspects,

including inheritance, divorce, and marriage. 16

However, the writer, like Alicia Izharuddin, is against the above views. Alicia

Izharuddin believed that women's status as housewives is shown in most soap operas

because of the Indonesian Muslim's conservative interpretation of women. 17

Although she agrees that Islamic law orders women to be subservient to their

husbands, it does not mean suppression for women. Several Qur'an sections and

Islamic history explain how husband and wife should respect each other and how

children should be more subservient to mothers than to fathers. 18 These opinions can

assess the wife's position in Lorong Waktu 3, that the soap opera producer

interpreted women's submission to their husbands based on the combination of the

Indonesian traditional culture and conservative Islamic views.

Forbidden Love in Kiamat Sudah Dekat

Compared to Lorong Waktu 3 , Kiamat Sudah Dekat tells a love story starting

from the struggle of a young man, Fandi, to marry Sarah, a daughter of a pious

elderly Muslim. Although the feeling of love in this soap opera exists before the

legitimized marriage, there is no scene about Fandi's and Sarah's close relationship

because Sarah's father always protects her from making a friend with any non-mahram

men (not close relatives). Therefore, the soap opera rarely shows Sarah going outside,

except for studying on campus and doing household chores, such as drying clothes

and cleaning the house's yard. As a pious Muslim woman, Sarah never meets Fandi

because it is also not allowed in Islam. Fandi, a rocker who grew up in America, is

described as having a bad attitude and nothing he knows about Islamic knowledge.

This problem worries Sarah's father, especially when he knows that Fandi intends to

marry his religious daughter. Each soap opera episode describes the continuity of

Fandi's struggle, from his first meeting until his successful effort to learn Islamic

knowledge and marry Sarah. Again, the producer shows that romantic relationships

between Muslim women and men should happen after marriage.

How the producer describes the forbidden love in Islam appears in several

scenes. First, the producer shows that all of Fandi's best friends have a girlfriend and

do not care about the barrier between a man and a woman before marriage.

Interestingly, those bad attitudes men use to drink alcohol, while the women are not

wearing hijab (veil). In the Indonesian Muslim culture, to measure a woman's

15 Al-Qur’an in the Letter of An-Nisa: 34.

16 See Shamim Samani, “Between Texts and Contexts: Contemporary Muslim

Gender Roles,” Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations , volume 27, 2016, Issue 3, 15 March 2016,

pp. 319-332. And, Farhad Kazemi, “Gender, Islam, and Politics,” Social Research , Vol. 67, No.

2, Iran: Since the Revolution (SUMMER 2000), pp. 453-474.

17 A. Izharuddin, “Visualising Muslim Women and Men: A Longue Duree,” in

Gender and Islam in Indonesian Cinema , Palgrave Macmillan US, 2017, pp: 63-96.

18 See al-Qur’an Letter of Al-Rum: 21 and Al-Baqara: 187, and Hadith from Al-

Tabarani about the paradise lies under mother’s feet.

48

Vol. 21, No. 1, January-June 2023

righteousness can be seen from her appearance, including hijab and clothes that cover

all parts of the body. When Fandi tries to change his attitude to be more pious, he

encourages all his friends and older sister to break their relationship with their non-

legitimized couple and start to learn Islam. The producer of this soap opera shows us

that one way to be more pious in Islam is by leaving disgraceful acts, including

having a non-legitimized lover.

Figure 1. Sarah's unfriendly expression when

approached by Fandi

Figure 2. Marriage proposal event between

Sarah's and Fendi's families

Source :

Gisela

Citra

channel,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=db6fIJH12V0 ,

cited May 17, 2022

Source : Gisela Citra channel,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=db6fIJH1

2V0 , cited May 17, 2022

Second, Fandi attempts to have a close relationship with Sarah through

several steps: Fandi asks for Sarah's father's permission to marry Sarah, then Fandi

struggles to fulfill any requirements to be Sarah's husband-to-be, including by

learning Islam. In Islam, Fandi's intention to get close to Sarah is not dating but

ta'aruf (an Arabic word that means 'introduction'). Ta'aruf is different from dating

because a man who intends to marry a woman should meet her family first, and ask

for any information about the woman's characteristics, then finally marry her no

longer after the process of ta'aruf is conducted. During the ta'aruf itself, the man is

forbidden to have dating with the woman unless close relatives accompany them.

The concept of ta'aruf as part of the producer's description of romantic love

before marriage is adopted from the Islamic tradition instead of Indonesian Muslim

culture. It is essential to know that up to 2018, the Indonesian Islamic Council never

issued a rule to forbid dating before marriage. Meanwhile, in the Indonesian law

passed in 1999-2000, the criminal act refers to an adultery case for married people, as

long as there is a report about the case. 19 If the Indonesian culture allows dating, so is

the passionate love in Kiamat Sudah Dekat 's story entirely inspired by Islamic law?

Besides the explanation of ta'aruf , many Islamic laws are about prohibitions for

dating before marriage. Several sections of the Qur'an forbid Muslims to be close to

non-Muhrim (not close relatives), including verses in an-Nur: 2-3 , al-Israa : 32, al-Furqan:

19 Indonesian Criminal Law, article 284 KUHP (Kitab Undang-undang Hukum

Pidana, Criminal Law Book) about Adultery.

Tsaqofah: Jurnal Agama dan Budaya

49

68-69 , and al-Muntahanah: 12 . 20 Those Qur'an sections explain that Muslims are

forbidden to have a date because dating closes to adultery, while adultery is one of

the major sins in Islam. 21 All these prohibitions reflect on the love story of Kiamat

Sudah Dekat .

The Islamic message of Kiamat Sudah Dekat is based on Islamic law, and it

shows that what we see in the Indonesian soap opera does not always reflect its

culture. Still, it can be based on the filmmaker/producer's goal and imagination. The

producer aims to make his soap operas as part of Islamic mission ( dakwah ) on TV. 22

The theme of Kiamat Sudah Dekat itself is an Islamic story aired during the Muslim

holy month, so it is not surprising if the producer wants to give the Muslim audience

stories based on Islamic law. While the producer's goal relates to dakwah , it is also

possible that his soap opera's story is because of marketing strategy. Like many

critiques of Islamic soap operas that are not 'Islamic' enough, Kiamat Sudah Dekat

offers its audience to watch the real Islamic message on the soap opera. 23

Islamic Representation in Both Soap Operas

In my previous discussion, I explained the stories of Lorong Waktu 3 and

Kiamat Sudah Dekat, which are based on Islamic tradition and laws. The

representation of those Islamic stories shows that both soap operas deserved to be

labeled as Islamic-themed. However, the next question is whether the Islamic theme

of these soap operas can be seen in their Islamic symbols. What kinds of symbols on

these soap operas represent the Islamic theme?

Many film and soap opera scholars have made several formulas to identify

Islamic theme soap operas, including veils 24 , mosques, Muslim preachers/religious

men ( kyai or haji ), and Islamic worship. 25 Most Islamic symbols appear in every scene

and episode of Lorong Waktu 3 and Kiamat Sudah Dekat . First, the leading actress of

both soap operas is wearing a veil. Sabrina (Addin's wife on Lorong Waktu 3 ) and

Sarah (the pious woman on Kiamat Sudah Dekat ) are described as religious women

who are respectively obedient to their husbands and father. Veiling is a symbol of

their purity in these soap operas. Claudia Nef-Saluz, in her Islamic Pop Culture in

Indonesia, believed that veiled women on the Indonesian soap operas "equals good

woman, and unveiled woman equals bad woman." 26 Therefore, in Islamic soap

operas, the producer shows the religious women wearing the veils to ensure that they

are based on Islamic guidance, as Islam requires Muslim women to cover their heads

with veils.

20 See Al-Qur’an Letter of An-Nur: 2-3, al-Israa: 32, al-Furqan: 68-69, and al-

Muntahanah: 12.

21 See Al-Qur’an Letter of An-Nur: 2-3, al-Israa: 32, al-Furqan: 68-69, and al-

Muntahanah: 12.

22 Ahmad Yosi Herfanda and Irwan Kelana, Inspiring Stories: 30 Kisah Para Beken yang

Menggugah , Solo: Tiga Serangkai Pustaka Mandiri, 2008, pp. 66-70.

23 Inaya Rakhmani, “Fifteen Years of Sinetron Religi,” in Inside Indonesia , published

on November 17, 2014, published in Journal Sosiologi Masyarakat , Universitas Indonesia.

http://www.insideindonesia.org/fifteen-years-of-sinetron-religi .

24 Gender through an Islamic Cinematic Lens,” in Gender and Islam in Indonesian

Cinema by Alicia Izharuddin, Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017, p. 86.

25 Alicia Izharuddin, “Dakwah at the Cinema: Identifying the Generic Parameters of

Islamic Films,” in Gender and Islam in Indonesian Cinema , Macmillan: Palgrave, 2017, p. 40.

26 Claudia Nef-Saluz, “Islamic Pop Culture in Indonesia,” Universitat Bern , 2007, pp.

1-87.

50

Vol. 21, No. 1, January-June 2023

Figure 3. Veiled woman in Kiamat Sudah

Dekat

Figure 4. Veiled Woman in Lorong Waktu 3

Source :

Gisela

Citra

channel,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=db6fIJH12V0 ,

cited May 17, 2022

Source : Irinhd TV YouTube channel,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV-

vC6uH9Y8 cited May 17, 2022

Second, the mosque becomes the setting of both soap operas. Especially in

Lorong Waktu 3 , many scenes take place in the mosque. In this soap opera, the

mosque becomes the place to discuss and solve the problem. The elderly religious

man, Pak Haji , lives in a room beside the mosque in which many people whose

various issues visit Pak Haji in that mosque. Furthermore, the existence of pious

people is the next character of both soap operas. Pak Haji, in these soap operas,

becomes a respected religious person in society. He often gives people advice based

on his Islamic knowledge. Not only spiritual, he is also described as a well-to-do man

who can help the poor in his area.

Nevertheless, the scenes of worship as another symbol of most Islamic soap

operas are not dominant in both. In Lorong Waktu 3 , only a few scenes shoot a

Muslim who is praying. That is when a woman asks for God's guidance to decide his

choice whether she has to accept her ex-husband again or refuse him. Most of the

scenes in Lorong Waktu 3 are about Muslims' problems that can be solved through

visiting time passage. Meanwhile, the acting of worship in Kiamat Sudah Dekat only

happens when the leading actor, Fandi, learns how to pray in Islam. The few scenes

of worship in both soap operas might be because these soap operas are not

melodrama genres. In many melodrama-Islamic soap operas, praying becomes the

way of a suppressed woman complaining about her sad story to God because she has

no one except God. It differs from both Lorong Waktu 3 and Kiamat Sudah Dekat, in

which the religious man plays a vital role in helping people solve their problems. For

instance, a prayer scene on Lorong Waktu 3 is shown after the woman gets advice to

ask for God's help with her problem.

D. CONCLUSION

The analysis of two Islamic soap operas, Lorong Waktu 3 and Kiamat Sudah

Dekat, led to several conclusions. Firstly, Dedi Mizwar, the producer of these Islamic

soap operas, has succeeded in bringing Islamic messages through romantic love

stories. However, the love stories in each soap opera are different. Lorong Waktu 3

tells about the relationship between a husband and his wife, so their romantic love

happens after marriage. On Kiamat Sudah Dekat , the love story is shown between an

Tsaqofah: Jurnal Agama dan Budaya

51

unmarried man and woman, but they have not been a couple until the man marries

his idol woman. Although the love stories differ, the producer's message in both

soap operas is clear Islam forbids a romantic relationship before marriage. Secondly,

although Lorong Waktu 3 was aired in 2002 when many Islamic soap operas were

melodrama, and Kiamat Sudah Dekat was produced during the popularity of Islamic

mysticism soap operas, Mizwar's soap operas were not influenced by melodrama and

mystic genre. In Lorong Waktu 3 and Kiamat Sudah Dekat, neither superstition

scenes nor women's suffering (melodrama) appears in these soap operas.

The research on Islamic soap operas shows what Islamic soap operas should

be. However, numerous Islamic-claimed soap operas in the 2000s still did not convey

Islamic values in their scenes. Mysticism and lack of Islamic symbols still became the

trends of soap operas in the 2000s in Indonesia. The truly Islamic values are not the

main aim of airing soap operas. The target of viewers and market demands were on

the top mind of many producers to release the soap opera genre.

E. REFERENCES

Al-Qur'an, Hadith, and Law

Al-Qur'an in the Letter of An-Nisa: 34.

Al-Qur’an Letter of Al-Rum: 21 and Al-Baqara: 187

Hadith from Al-Tabarani about the paradise lies under mother's feet.

Indonesian Criminal Law, article 284 KUHP (Kitab Undang-undang Hukum Pidana,

Criminal Law Book) about Adultery.

Al-Qur’an Letter of An-Nur: 2-3, al-Israa: 32, al-Furqan: 68-69, and al-Muntahanah:

12.

Online Sources

Soap opera Lorong Waktu 3, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IURVqXicqtc .

Soap Opera Kiamat Sudah Dekat, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1GPelTfgps .

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Yuswohadi. Marketing to The Middle-Class Muslim , (Jakarta: Gramedia Pustaka Utama,

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