Santoso and Wati are in grief for Agung, their only son, suddenly died. It leads Santoso into unfavorable circumstances while he gets around to preparing for the funeral.

Joko and Widodo are best friends who live in a village. Joko likes to shoot Widodo’s fowl. Every time Widodo knows that his fowls have been killed; he takes revenge by burning Joko’s house. This weird friendship then changes when Widodo must move to the city, living with his son and his family.

Returning from Mecca, Darwis changes his name to Ahmad Dahlan as he is disturbed by the trend of Islamic laws in his society; that borders on heresy, Syrik (polytheism), and Bid’ah (wrong innovation). Using a compass, he proves that the direction of Qibla (that points to Mecca), in the Great Mosque of Kauman is wrong. The discovery angers every Kyai (Islamic experts), especially the head of the Great Mosque of Kauman, Kyai Penghulu Cholil Kamaludiningrat. Dahlan, who studied in Mecca for five years, is seen as a rebel upstart. Since the proposal of changing the direction of Qibla is rejected, Dahlan starts a movement calling for the change. On his first sermon as a preacher, Dahlan criticizes the habits of residents in his village in Yogyakarta: "In a prayer, only a sincere and patient heart is needed, it requires no Kyais, money, let alone offerings". As a result, Dahlan gets a hostile reception.

The Indonesian society is seen through a middle-aged lady's eyes in her daily encounters with the street children who work and live off the harsh and sleazy world of adults.