Every day Mr. Dodi is always enthusiastic and persistent in his work. Even though his job is only as a cemetery guard at the TPU, he never complains and is ashamed of his job. Pak Dodi only lives alone without a family, his son and wife have died two years ago after an earthquake in his village. His wife and child were buried in the cemetery where Pak Dodi worked. He always takes good care of their graves and is full of love, even though there is a single filth he always cleans for the pleasure of his children and wife who have lived in another world.
For decades Mr. Dodi has worked as a tomb guard and cleaner, but his income has never increased a dime. He only gets extra money if an heir makes a pilgrimage to his family's grave. The person who always gave Pak Dodi money every time he pilgrimage was a handsome and kind young man. The young man named Farhan, he was very impressed with the figure of Pak Dodi who was always persistent in his work even though he had to feel the hot sun every day.
"Nak Farhan, tumben once a working day pilgrimage to the tomb", said Pak Dodi.
"Yes sir, I remember chewing. Yesterday I had a dream with him sir ".
"Oh, yes, Farhan, can you help Farhan to pray?"
"Yes sir Dodi thank you, I am also not yet proficient in reciting prayers".
Pak Dodi finally read a prayer to Farhan's mother. After reading the prayer, as usual Farhan also gave a penny to Mr. Dodi. Pak Dodi accepted it happily. Only Farhan is the one who routinely gives money to Pak Dodi when he is visiting his family's grave.
One night, Mr. Dodi felt a very powerful vibration that made him wake up. When he woke up, Mr. Dodi had already fallen from his bed. At that time, there was an earthquake in his village, Mr. Dodi was afraid that what happened to his wife and child two years ago would happen to him. Pak Dodi rushed out to find shelter, meanwhile the simple house was destroyed and nothing was left. He is very sad and confused about who to live with because he doesn't have a place to live anymore.
Confused looking for a place to live, Pak Dodi decided to live in a hut near where he worked. Pak Dodi is willing to live in the cold at night instead of having no place to live, after all that place is Mr. Dodi's daily place. Even though Mr. Dodi had to live in a hut, he never complained. He believes that behind all of this there must be a beautiful lesson from God. He was grateful because when the earthquake happened, his life was still safe thanks to God's help.
It's been three months since Mr. Dodi lived in a hut near the cemetery. During those three months, not a single person cared about Mr. Dodi's life. Pak Dodi remains patient, because God always gives the best for his servants. At that time, Farhan, the young man who was always proud of Mr. Dodi, came back to the cemetery to visit his family's grave. Farhan was confused by the many household items found in the huts near the cemetery.
“Sir, whose belongings are all sir? How come it's like the equipment at home, sir? ”Asked Farhan.
"Oh, that item belongs to Mr. Farhan's son."
"Why did you bring that much stuff here?"
"Now you live in the hut, kid Farhan, you don't have a place to live anymore. Three months ago, your house collapsed due to the earthquake, so you decided to stay in that hut. "
"Oh God, how poor you are, sir, why don't you look for a place to live other than the hut, sir? The hut is open, sir, what if you want to sleep at night? You must be cold, right? "
"Yes, it's okay, kid Farhan, rather than you live on the streets. Besides, you don't have any family other than your deceased father's wife and children ”.
Hearing this touched Farhan's heart. Farhan intends to invite Pak Dodi to stay with him. At home, Farhan only lives with one younger brother, another family member who died in a car accident 10 years ago. Initially Pak Dodi did not accept Farhan's offer to stay at his house because Pak Dodi was not Farhan's nobody. Because Mr. Dodi is the person who always takes care of the Farhan family's grave, Farhan continues to persuade Mr. Dodi to stay with him. With a long conversation, finally Pak Dodi was willing to stay with Farhan even though it was hard. Pak Dodi asked Farhan to hire himself without pay so that he would not burden Farhan too much while at his house. Farhan was forced to employ Pak Dodi as a gardener behind his house.
After several months Mr. Dodi lived with Farhan and his younger brother, he felt uncomfortable and uncomfortable with Farhan. Pak Dodi also tried to leave Farhan's house, but Farhan always stopped him because he felt sorry for Mr. Dodi who was old. Farhan also needs Mr. Dodi to learn to recite prayers at the funeral. Since childhood, Farhan was very far from religious teachings, even for prayer Farhan and his younger brother still had to learn from Mr. Dodi. This is Pak Dodi's reason for staying at Farhan's house and the intention to run away is thrown away from his heart.
"Sir, I beg you, don't ever try to escape from here, sir. I really need a father figure to teach me religion more deeply, sir. "
"Yes, dear Farhan, forgive me, I promise I will teach Farhan and his brother to be able to recite prayers at the funeral and learn to pray well."
Pak Dodi's heart is very happy to be able to teach religion to others even though he does not have much knowledge, but even so he can still teach a few things related to religion because he had attended a pesantren, although it was not that long. Gradually Farhan and his younger brother were able to perform their prayers well, even for one week they always prayed in congregation at home with Mr. Dodi's imami.
It doesn't feel like it has been three years since Mr. Dodi has lived with Farhan and his younger brother, they are like a real family. Farhan and his younger brother have been able to read prayers at the funeral for their family and their religious knowledge is getting better. Farhan already thinks Pak Dodi is like his own father.
Every now and then Mr. Dodi always took the time to visit his former residence and workplace, namely the cemetery that Farhan often visited. Farhan was often accompanied by Pak Dodi when he was going on a pilgrimage to the grave, and this time Farhan was the one who led his prayer thanks to the teachings of Mr. Dodi.
One day Pak Dodi offered Farhan to learn how to offer a corpse and bury it. At first Farhan did not feel brave, but Farhan thought that he should also be able to do this because he was afraid that if someone died he would have to pray. Pak Dodi taught this to Farhan so that Farhan could help people in need of someone who could offer the corpse in an emergency. It only took Farhan three days to learn the readings in the funeral prayer, Farhan was very threadbare to do it well. Farhan will also teach this to his younger brother.
“You are really great, son Farhan. After only three days of learning, you can immediately practice it. Later you teach this to your sister. "
"Haha Pak Dodi could, he sir I will teach my brother to be able to pray on the body."
"Yes, that's good, who knows tomorrow there is someone you have to pray for Farhan."
"Ah, sir, I just got it right, I'm not ready if I have to pray for the real body."
"You have to be ready, son Farhan, you can already practice it well."
"God willing, sir, I'm ready."
The next day Mr. Dodi went to the funeral where he used to work, he felt very homesick for the atmosphere there and also missed his wife and children. Meanwhile Farhan didn't come with Pak Dodi because he was working. Mr. Dodi left alone with a hoe to make a grave for himself, I don't know what was on his mind. Pak Dodi thinks he doesn't want to bother other people to build his grave when he dies. Pak Dodi wants to make a tomb for himself to live in when he returns to God one day. With a hoe in his hand, Mr. Dodi was still eager to dig a grave even though the sun was so hot that the burrow was deep enough.
For Mr. Dodi, that day was quite a different day from usual, his body felt cool even though the sky was very hot. He felt his heart beating quite a bit, but he didn't know what he felt. Feeling tired from his job, Mr. Dodi chose to rest under a shady tree while drinking his lunch. It was really delicious at that time, so that it made Pak Dodi fall asleep with a beautiful smile.
At 4 pm Farhan had just returned from his office, but he did not see Mr. Dodi already at home. Farhan thinks Mr. Dodi will not arrive this afternoon at the grave, Farhan also intends to follow Mr. Dodi at the grave because the sky is already cloudy. When he arrived at the grave, Farhan saw Mr. Dodi who was fast asleep under a tree. Farhan tried to wake him up, but Mr. Dodi still fell asleep without being bothered by his smile. Farhan checked his breath path, it turned out that at that time Pak Dodi was no longer in the world. Farhan's heart at that time was devastated, the figure who had taught him how to worship has now left him forever.
Pak Dodi was prayed for by Farhan at the mosque near his house and was buried in the place Pak Dodi had prepared for himself. The next day Pak Dodi was buried quietly, there were quite a lot of relatives who came. "Dodi Supendi bin Dedi Supendi" is the name on the tombstone belonging to Mr. Dodi who has been considered a father by Farhan and his younger brother.
Every month Farhan and his sister always make a pilgrimage to his family's grave, including Pak Dodi to clean and pray for him. Farhan and his brother are very grateful to have received many lessons related to the world and the hereafter thanks to Pak Dodi. Now Farhan and his sister can live with good religious teachings.
Photo by Scott Rodgerson on Unsplash