REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Three Indonesian universities are involved in the process of making a documentary film on the history of the spread of Islam entitled "Ulama Nusantara" (archipelago's ulemas) produced by Malaysian production house Primeworks Studios.
"This collaboration is a great opportunity to share our knowledge and history about the time when Islam first arrived and the important role played by ulamas in spreading the religion throughout the archipelago," the Chief Executive Officer of Primeworks Studios, Ahmad Izham Omar, said in a statement received by Antara here on Sunday.
The three universities are the State Islamic University (UIN) Syarif Hidayatullah (Jakarta), UIN Imam Bonjol (Padang, West Sumatra province), and UIN Ar Raniry (Banda Aceh).
Prof. Azyumardi Azra and Prof. Oman Fathurahman of UIN Syarif Hidayatullah are among Indonesian Muslim historians and academicians who provide valuable research information in the movie series whose first episode will be aired in October this year in Malaysia and Indonesia.
Primeworks also teams up with academicians from the Department of Arabic and Islamic Civilization Studies, Faculty of Islamic Studies at University of Kebangsaan Malaysia.
The documentary film consisting of 13 episodes tells the story of the arrival of Ulemas in the archipelago and their efforts to spread the teachings of Islam about 1,400 years ago.
The film making brought the crew to six countries, namely Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam, Thailand and Turkey, and spent more than three years to complete the Islam documentary project.
Through the spice route around the Malay Archipelago, the programme traces they way of Islam helping further propagate integration of society especially in the educational and cultural affairs.
Primeworks Studios launched Ulama Nusantara at the 12th World Islamic Economic Forum in Jakarta on August 2, 2016, witnessed by Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Malaysian Prime Minister Dato' Sri Mohd Najib Tun Razak.
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