A Comparison of the Concept of Romantic Love in the Novels Ayat-ayat Cinta 2 and Salju Sakinah

This study uses textual analysis to explore the concept of romantic love by comparing the Indonesian Islamic novel, Ayat-ayat Cinta 2 , by Habiburrahman El-Shirazy with the Malaysian Islamic novel, Salju Sakinah , by Zaid Akhtar. This investigation utilises the Theory of Persuratan Baru by focusing on the concept of the nature and function of literature. This study discovers that the creation of novels infused with Islamic elements and romantic love in Indonesia and Malaysia is influenced by two main factors, which are the awareness of the writer to disseminate Islamic messages and the profit motive of the publisher. These two factors cause novels, imbued with Islamic elements and romantic love, to become a branded or marketable commodity in both countries. The findings reveal that Ayat-ayat Cinta 2 utilises the concept of romantic love with emphasis on sexual intimacy while Salju Sakinah places emphasis on the language of understanding over physical intimacy. Keywords: Islamic novels, Ayat-ayat Cinta 2 , Salju Sakinah , romantic love, sexuality. Abstrak Kajian ini meneroka konsep cinta romantisme dengan kaedah analisis teks dan perbandingan antara novel Islam Indonesia dengan novel Islam Malaysia. Kajian memilih novel Ayat-ayat Cinta 2 oleh Habiburrahman El-Shirazy dan novel Salju Sakinah oleh Zaid Akhtar. Penelitian ini menggunakan Teori Persuratan Baru dengan memberi penekanan terhadap Konsep Hakikat dan Fungsi Sastera. Kajian mendapati kelahiran novel berunsurkan Islam dan cinta romantisme di Indonesia dan Malaysia didorongi dua faktor utama, iaitu kesedaran penulis menyampaikan mesej Islam dan kehendak penerbit yang mahukan keuntungan. Dua faktor ini menyebabkan novel berunsurkan Islam dan cinta romantisme menjadi jenama atau produk pasaran di kedua negara. Hasil analisis menunjukkan novel Ayat-ayat Cinta 2 menggunakan konsep cinta romantisme yang berorientasikan seksual, manakala novel Salju Sakinah mementingkan bahasa nurani berbanding sentuhan fizikal. Kata Kunci: novel Islam, Ayat-ayat Cinta 2, Salju Sakinah, cinta romantisme, seksualiti