Launin Fata Book One Complete Hausa Novel

Slowly, Rabi placed Nabila back into the cloth she used to carry her and handed her over to her elder brother, Rufa’i. He took the little girl and held her gently against his chest.

He said, “Be patient, Rabi. No matter how difficult things become, no mother wants to be separated from her child, especially a baby as young as this.”

“Allah knows exactly what you are going through. He is the One who provides relief, and He will surely ease your pain. You know there is nothing we can do about Abba’s decision. If not for that, nobody would separate you from your daughter now.”

Rabi took out some of Nabila’s clothes from among her belongings and packed them carefully inside a plastic bag. She then brought out a small, delicate silver necklace and placed it around the baby’s neck.

Afterwards, she stood up, went into her room and lay down.

At that moment, the only thing she wished for was death. Milk flowed from her breasts while tears streamed endlessly from her eyes. The pain became so unbearable that she began reciting a supplication:

“Allahumma la sahla illa ma ja’altahu sahla, wa anta taj’alul hazna iza shi’ta sahla.”

“O Allah, there is no ease except what You make easy, and You can make hardship easy if You will.”

Gradually, sleep overtook her while her heart remained filled with memories of the past.

The Background of Alhaji Abdulkarim Baba’s Family

Alhaji Abdulkarim Baba was originally from Yemen. He came to Nigeria because of business. At first, he travelled back and forth between the two countries, but eventually he returned to Nigeria with his entire family and built his home in Kano, where they settled permanently.

At that time, three of his children had already grown considerably.

Hajiya Maryam was his wife. Their children included Muhammad Rufa’i, the eldest, followed by Nafisa and Muhammad Nuraddin.

Among the children she later gave birth to were Asiya, Muhammad Bashir, Rabi, Fatima Zahra and Idris, the youngest, whom the family fondly called Khalifa.

Hajiya Maryam was an exceptionally gentle and patient woman. She never took worldly matters too seriously and preferred to live her life peacefully and simply.

Her husband, Alhaji Abdulkarim, however, was the complete opposite. He had a very hot temper and little patience in dealing with people. Anyone who had ever interacted closely with him knew this about his character.

His neighbours knew it. His business associates knew it. And most especially, his own family knew it.

Alhaji Abdulkarim arrived in Nigeria with great fortune on his side. Within a relatively short period, he became one of the wealthy businessmen whose names were known throughout Kano State.

Despite living and doing business in Nigeria, Alhaji Abdulkarim preferred dealing almost exclusively with fellow Arabs.

His dislike for Black people was so extreme that no matter how much he desired something, if it was being sold by a Black person, he would rather walk away than buy it from them.

His business activities involved frequent travel between Nigeria and Arab countries such as Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, as well as Malaysia, his home country Yemen, and several other places.

At the end of every week, he would gather his entire family together. They would sit and talk about old memories, laugh together, pray for deceased relatives, eat and drink.

But before everyone dispersed, he would always give them the same warning.

He did not want them associating closely with poor people.

He also did not want them having close relationships with Black people.

As long as they obeyed these rules, he assured them that they would live peacefully with him. But anyone who went against his wishes would face his anger.

These repeated lectures deeply troubled Hajiya Maryam. She believed he was teaching their children something terribly wrong.

The poor and the Black were all creations of Allah. Their status or skin colour did not make them less human.

But she could hardly challenge her husband directly because of his temper. Even in front of their children, he could close his eyes to all restraint and humiliate her without caring about the consequences.

For that reason, whenever Alhaji Abdulkarim finished delivering one of his lectures and later left the house, Hajiya Maryam would gather the children together the following day and speak to them herself.

She would say, “Just as I am your mother and have rights over you, you are expected to obey me whenever I direct you toward something that does not contradict the teachings of Allah.”

“In the same way, your father also has the right to your obedience.”

“However, I am deeply uncomfortable with this bad behaviour he is trying to teach you.”

“Every one of you here knows that Allah created the rich, He created the poor, He created white people and He created Black people.”

“Anyone with wisdom and understanding should never hate another person merely because that person has no wealth. Neither should anyone hate another human being simply because they do not have white skin.”

One day, Rufa’i finally spoke.

“Ummi, if we refuse to follow him, what are we supposed to do? You know all of us are under his authority. The moment we go against what he wants, he humiliates us and may even throw us out.”

Rabi also joined the conversation.

She said, “Ummi, wallahi, I become very upset whenever I hear Abba saying things like that. Sometimes I find myself thinking that those are not the kind of words that should come from an educated elderly man who understands what he is doing.”

Nafisa responded, “But what is good about poverty anyway? Even the Prophets, who were more honoured before Allah than anyone else, used to seek Allah’s protection from hardship and poverty. How much more people like us?”

“I do not see anything wrong with Baba telling us to avoid poor people.”

“What he means is that we, his daughters, should not bring home poor husbands. And you men should not marry women from poor families either.”

“Just as a wealthy person prefers doing business with someone of equal financial standing, people should marry those who are on their level. Birds of the same feather should remain together.”

Idris curled his lips and said, “That is exactly how I see it too.”

Nuraddin added, “Besides, look at a family like ours. Abba spends so much money making sure we eat good food, drink good things, wear expensive clothes and have beautiful accessories.”

“After enjoying all of that, are we then supposed to ruin everything by marrying into poverty?”

“Come on! If we did that, it would mean we had gone backwards. What would be the purpose of planting crops if there was never going to be a harvest?”

“Abba has told us many times that he spends his money on us because he expects us to become a profitable investment for him.”

“When the time comes for us to marry, we should have enough value and status to marry prestigious spouses from wealthy and respected families.”