Jefri was born in
Jakarta, the third son of his father Ismail Modal who was a
Moluccan, and his mother Tatu Mulyana. During the elementary school years at 07 Karang Anyar, Jefri never felt the need for the grade 4 thus he jumped class from grade 3 to class 5. Since childhood age he had shown an interest in religious and artistic subjects. At the elementary school, Jefri and his siblings attended the modern
pesantren at Daar el Qolam Gintung, Balaraja,
Tangerang, but he only attended four years of graduate schooling, and later transferred to the
madrasah aliyah (higher Islamic educational institution) for unhealthy behavior. During this time, Jefri had already shown his talent in performance with reaching the provincial level tournament at the
Musabaqah Tilawatil Quran. His youth was often riddled with drug abuse, disco, and playing billiard games. "I was the demon's work in the world" once confessed Jefri at the interview. After graduating the madrasah aliyah, he went on to the broadcasting academy in
Rawamangun, Jakarta, but did not finish the college due to excessively playing billiards. During this age, he suffered from drug addiction. Recovering from drug addiction, Jefri met Pipik Dian Irawati, who hailed from
Semarang, Central Java and working for the magazine cover girl for Aneka magazine in 1995, and married on 7 September 1999. This marriage was then inaugurated in Semarang two months later. The couple had four children, two sons and two daughters: Adiba Khanza Az-Zahra; born in 2000, Mohammad Abidzar Al-Ghifari; born in 2001, Ayla Azuhro; born in 2007, and Attaya Bilal Rizkillah; born in 2008. ==Career==