Novel: The Invisible Man by HG Wells

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Have you ever thought about to be an invisible man? Indeed, it will be exciting if we can make it as reality, in the future maybe.

So how this Jake Griffin, a scientist can turn himself into an invisible man? According to his explanation to his friend, of the components in human body are invisible. They are actually visible to our eyes because of the melanin and others. Thus, after doing some research, he ended up to a formula that allowed us to become invisible. At the same time, he had burnt a hole in his pocket, so he couldn't pay his house rental. After that, Jack Griffin decided to drink the chemical and he slowly became invisible. However, his intention wasn't right. A sudden chaos occurred after the incident. It was he who stole the clothes, money, food and so on. He was feeling as if he was very powerful when he was invisible to others. After someone had discovered his identity, the police then began their operation to catch Jack Griffin. His life started to suffer although he was able to run from them. He tried to ask for help from a man but to no avail. The man reported it to the police and he managed to keep Griffin's research books, which contain all the formula about being invisible. Then, he accidentally met his old friend, Dr Kemp, the only person he trusted. However, things gone beyond his plan. Dr Kemp also reported to the police because he knew that Griffin was possible to be the most dangerous criminal. However, Griffin succeed to run away again until he tried to kill Dr Kemp. Even though the police had been trying to protect Dr Kemp, Griffin was obviously cleverer. At last, Dr Kemp was the actual hero that his plan had actually killed Griffin. The invisible man slowly became visible after his death.

For me, this story is really fictitious. Although this classic novel was published in the 19th century, I'm fascinated when HG Wells could think about being invisible at that time. Who knows, maybe his idea was true and had actually used by the scientists nowadays.

If I am invisible, of course I do not want to be like Jack Griffin, who always made the chaos and even killed innocent people! An invisible man may be the opposite of it. It will be easier to catch the criminals when they cannot see us. However, this formula shall be kept as a secret in the authorities to make sure that the criminals will not use it for their crimes.

From this novel, I had learned that anything that we can imagine can become a reality. Like the invisible man, we might never believe that it will become true. However, Jack Griffins believed himself and so, he made it! Besides, do not use your power for immoral actions such as what Jack Griffin had done, stealing, killing, etc. We should use it for the sake of the community. It will be awesome if we can do something useful for them! There are many other lessons, but so far these are the most important among others, I guess.

So, I hope that this novel will encourage us to be more creative and concern about others.  

Nature Can't Be Wrong

Just finished my graphic design lesson today, focusing on color schemes and mood board. To have a combination of colors is great, and it can also give a different impression compared to a single color. There are different color schemes, depending on what you want. Monochromatic, complementary, analogous etc. (color.adobe.com can be a good reference if you want to see what does it mean).

Photo by Shaun Low on Unsplash

The instructor said that if you are not sure of the combinations, refer to nature since it will never be wrong.

Nature can't be wrong.

I never thought of colors in nature. Indeed, photographs of nature landscapes are usually prettier and easier compared to manmade items. We don't usually need to adjust the lighting (obviously because we cannot control the sun), unless we want something specific like sunset or sunrise.

It reminded me of the Quran. Allah mentioned so many times to look for His signs in His creations. They are called ayat, or ayahs, just like the verses in Quran. See how important the nature are in our faiths. I wonder if other religions emphasized about nature.

Then do they not look at the camels - how they are created? And at the sky - how it is raised?
And at the mountains - how they are erected? And at the earth - how it is spread out?

Photo by Mariam Soliman on Unsplash

This is said in Surah Al-Ghashiyah (88:17-20).

أَفَلَا يَنظُرُونَ إِلَى الْإِبِلِ كَيْفَ خُلِقَتْ

وَإِلَى السَّمَاءِ كَيْفَ رُفِعَتْ

وَإِلَى الْجِبَالِ كَيْفَ نُصِبَتْ

وَإِلَى الْأَرْضِ كَيْفَ سُطِحَتْ

I knew this for years. That God's creations can be obvious signs for His presence and perfections. However, I normally focus on the scientific part of the nature. Like how Allah mentioned to think how camels are created. Camels can survive in a very hot and dry surrounding for a very long time. They are equipped with humps full of water. Their eyelashes are also long, protecting them from blindness due to sand storms. And lots of other perfections in the nature.

Little that we realize, all the combinations, like camels, the sky, mountains and the entire earth can be a comfort to the eye. Take a look at an image of camel with the sky and mountains. Isn't it weird to have a camel with color of, let's say light blue. Or maybe the sky is brown and the mountains are red.

Are we fine with having a different color of sky?

And at the earth - how it is spread out? Allah made it not too crowded, and has multiple types of seasons across the world. There can be a desert and forest next to each other, but not too close that it is not suitable. There is this principle in graphic design that white space is also important in a design. How perfect is Allah's design, that the enormous Earth (but tiny to Him) is spread out in such a nice way for us?

 قُلْ سِيرُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ فَانظُرُوا كَيْفَ بَدَأَ الْخَلْقَ ۚ ثُمَّ اللَّهُ يُنشِئُ النَّشْأَةَ الْآخِرَةَ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

Say, [O Muhammad], "Travel through the land and observe how He began creation. Then Allah will produce the final creation. Indeed Allah, over all things, is competent." [29:20]

The Lonely Yet Peaceful Mosque

Everything is white on the road, especially in the mountains area. It snowed heavily last night. 

We need a break.

A break from the busy world.

It is the only known mosque in the Taos area (at least to me and based on Salatomatic). It is even called "Musolla Khadijah", not "masjid." Using the name of Khadijah, the very first Muslim after Jibril a.s. met Rasulullah s.a.w.

The minaret!

A unique wooden stairs at the tree caught our eyes. The most significant mark that we know from the calendar we received for free.

Looking around, there was no one there. Only us. Is it open?

We jumped into the fluffy snow. Very very clean snow. As white as snow (well it is snow)...

There was a note on the door. It says anyone can use this musolla. Just keep it clean and no food allowed.

We stepped inside. A very humble yet comforting place. 

There were even some wooden blocks for kids in the musolla.

The restroom is below the minaret. And also for taking wudhu'. 

The water is super cold. Yet we were grateful for the water.

We need to put our own curtain when taking wudhu' to cover our aurat. Yet we were grateful for the simple cloth.

The musolla is also super cold (because we actually don't know how to turn on the heater properly haha). Yet we were grateful for having a proper place to take a break.

I was amazed. How can this place be so clean although not many Muslims live here? Even when there is no one taking care of it all the time, only some time.

I feel there is a strong connection between Muslims in this small town. That they put together an effort to build a specific place to pray, although they are not many.

And the presence of minaret, makes me feel that it can be used openly to call for prayers in this minority Muslim country. Freedom of speech? Reminds me of the movie about Rasulullah s.a.w., when Bilal r.a. called for prayers on Kaabah.

Faith is a strong connection. So strong that will make a change to the whole world, to make it a peaceful place. This is our responsibility as khalifahs, to worship Allah and prosper the Earth. 

Let's build a strong Muslim community. 

Through our family, to the nation and the world.

My Name Is Red

Sebuah novel misteri pembunuhan, yang mana seorang pelukis yang berkedudukan tinggi telah dibunuh. Eh, pelukis pun ada yang hebat? Ya, pada zaman itu seni lukisan sangat dititikberatkan. Siap ada pelukis untuk golongan istana. Tapi lukisan masa itu bukan macam sekarang, yang lebih kepada imitasi terhadap benda sebenar. Lukisan pada masa itu lebih bersifat 2 dimensi, kurang perspektif. Orhan Pamuk menulis dalam novel itu yang mungkin mereka tak mahu mengikut pelukis barat yang dianggap meniru ciptaan Allah (tetapi profesor Sejarah saya tak bersetuju pun dengan pendapat ini). Begitulah lebih kurang perdebatan para pelukis dalam novel itu, sehingga terjadi tragedi pembunuhan.

Sinopsis novel ini menarik kerana adanya unsur jenayah dan kemungkinan 'thriller.' Tertarik untuk tahu siapa sebenarnya pembunuh.

Satu lagi keunikan novel ini ialah penggunaan teknik autobiografi, yang rasanya ramai yang guna semasa sekolah rendah sahaja. Banyak penceritaan dari sudut watak utama, tetapi ada juga oleh mayat mangsa pembunuhan, dakwat merah (seperti tajuk buku), anjing dan sebagainya.

Novel ini sebenarnya merupakan salah satu buku yang digunakan dalam kelas Sejarah Uthmaniyyah. Menarik kerana bukan hanya buku teks sejarah biasa yang kami gunakan. Tapi buku ini sebenarnya merupakan rujukan utama untuk 'final paper' kami yang kebanyakannya dalam bentuk cerita fiksyen autobiografi. Novel ini banyak menceritakan suasana pada zaman Uthmaniyyah, semasa pemerintahan Sultan Murad III, seperti suasa istana, layanan terhadap Yahudi dan hubungan hierarki antara para pelukis profesional. Jadi, boleh baca buku ini kalau mahu merasakan suasana pada zaman Uthmaniyyah.

Namun, satu perkara yang mungkin saya rasa kurang menarik ialah fokus yang tinggi terhadap falsafah lukisan, yang bukan merupakan minat saya. Hal ini membuatkan perasaan yang jalan cerita itu terlalu perlahan kerana perbincangan yang saya sendiri tak berapa faham. Mungkin kerana fokus saya ialah suasana dan mencari pembunuhnya sahaja. Solusinya, boleh 'skip' sahaja kalau tak minat (dah memang kena baca untuk kelas).

Orhan Pamuk merupakan penulis novel yang popular di Turki , dengan jalan cerita berlatarbelakangkan zaman Uthmaniyyah. Abang beliau juga merupakan Sejarawan Ekonomi yang pakar dalam zaman Uthmaniyyah. Maka, sangat sesuai untuk sesiapa yang berminat mengetahui tentang sejarah empayar Islam yang paling lama ini.