According to his own accounts, Jefri Al Buchori, born April 12, 1973 in Jakarta, Indonesia, survived a childhood and early adulthood filled with drug problems and an addiction to billiards. Throughout his personal struggles, he maintained an avid interest in both performing and religion. He worked as an actor and dancer in the late 80s, winning an award for his work on the soap opera Halilintar in the early 90s. He got clean and met his future wife in the mid 90s, marrying her in 1999. He began sermonizing at a Singapore mosque in 2000, and within two years he developed a television presence in this capacity. He become so popular that by 2005 the president of Indonesia personally invited him to speak. That same year he issued Lahir Kembali, an album of religious music. On 2006’s Shalawat he wrote and performed a pair of songs with his wife. He died in a motorbike accident on April 26, 2013 at the age of 40. His funeral drew crowds that numbered in the thousands, a testament to his influence and popularity.
