(Yeni Safak and Sabah Newspapers, 21 June 2014)
Imam has two feet in the grave already.
Mesut Dagdagan (43), the father of four children, has been
the imam at the Saadet Mosque in Tatvan district of Bitlis
province for 16 years. Four years ago Dagdagan began
a drive to replace his previous 400-person capacity mosque
with a bigger one. The imam established an association for
the project and enlisted the aid of philanthropists and local
residents, ultimately collecting 4.5 million TL.
The new mosque has been opened and Dagdagan has prepared
a grave for himself right next to it. The imam purchased a 10
square meter plot with his own money for his grave and he
explained why: "our ancestors put graveyards next to mosques
because they wanted to see these graves when going to the
mosque so that their hearts would be softened. I built a grave
for myself here during these days when we are wrestling with
worldly matters and forgetting the afterlife. The important
thing is not to build the grave but to be ready for the grave.
The grave reminds us of death and those who see it are
reminded, too. They therefore think about judgement day
and mend their ways."
Bitlis province
