Maartabarmu Book 1 Complete Hausa Novel

Maartabarmu Book 1 Complete Hausa Novel begins with the troubled marriage of Ahmadi and Maimuna, a couple whose love is strong but shaken by jealousy, pride, and the coming of another wife. It is a story of family dignity, emotional pain, marriage pressure, and the difficult test of sharing love inside a home.

In this English translation, Ahmadi stands at the doorway of his own house, gathering courage to enter, while Maimuna’s jealousy threatens to turn their once-beautiful marriage into a battlefield.

Ahmadi At The Door

He stood at the entrance of the rented house where he lived in Fagge.

This was the second house he had rented within the same area in almost four years of marriage, and the reason was the character of his wife, Maimuna.

Her behavior had now reached the point where he felt afraid and worried before entering his own home. Never in his married life had he imagined that a day would come when he would stand at the gate of his house, gathering all the courage he could find just to walk inside.

With difficulty, Ahmadi released a breath and stepped into the passage. He entered the compound with a greeting, even though he knew there was no guarantee that she would answer him.

Maimuna In The Compound

He found her sitting on a chair in the middle of the compound, cutting spinach.

She wore a patterned ankara dress that suited her fair skin beautifully. Her lips were covered with bright red lipstick, the kind that could remain on the lips for days even when it was not reapplied.

She looked very beautiful to him.

Even the pregnancy that had brought pimples to her face did not reduce her beauty in his eyes.

Ahmadi was among the kind of men who often said:

“A fair woman, even if she is difficult, still has her beauty.”

As long as a man could have such a woman, he would still desire her.

From the very moment Ahmadi first set eyes on Maimuna, she captured his heart. He knew she was among the women he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

That was why he did not hesitate to confess that he loved her.

The Dikko Family

In the Dikko family, it was unusual for either the men or the women to marry outsiders. If someone entered any household in the family and checked the husband and wife, they would usually find a blood relationship connecting them.

Even Maimuna and Ahmadi were related. Their mothers and fathers were connected through the Dikko family line.

From Ahmadi’s mother’s side, they were close relatives. From his father’s side, Maimuna was also regarded as a daughter within the family.

Because the family valued education, there had been some discussion about Ahmadi’s young age when he wanted to marry Maimuna. At that time, he was still in his final year of study.

But apart from his education, Ahmadi already had a reliable way of earning income through the shoe business. His elder brother, Ayuba, had introduced him to the business of selling shoes for adults and children.

Business was the foundation of wealth and pride in the Dikko family. Even among those who worked government jobs, many still combined their work with business in one way or another.

Because of this, no one refused to give Maimuna to Ahmadi in marriage.

But people continued talking, especially because Ahmadi’s elder brother, Bala, who ran his own business in their ancestral state of Katsina, had not even mentioned marriage at that time.

Blessings After Marriage

Exactly ten months after Ahmadi married Maimuna, everyone began praising the blessings of early marriage.

They had been blessed with a son, named after Ahmadi’s father, Alhaji Mutaqqa. They called the boy Khalifa.

Around that same period, Ahmadi completed his studies in accounting and was posted to Katsina State for his national service.

He saw blessings in being kind to his family. Whatever matter he faced, Allah seemed to open a path of success for him.

Maimuna was among the women who conceived quickly after childbirth. Before Khalifa was even eight months old, she became pregnant again with their second child, Zubaida.

Because they were educated enough to value medical advice, they followed the doctor’s instructions. Khalifa remained healthy until he was weaned properly.

Now, while still breastfeeding Zubaida, Maimuna had become pregnant again with their third child.

The First House Problem

When Maimuna was heavily pregnant with Zubaida, they had to leave their former rented house because of a quarrel between Maimuna and one of the other tenants.

It was after marriage that Ahmadi fully understood that Maimuna was not a patient woman. Even over small matters, her mouth did not remain silent.

Because of that, he rented the two-room house where they now lived alone.

At first, he had chosen a house with other tenants because he was thinking about the loneliness that would come when he left for national service. But now, living alone seemed better for peace.

In any case, that arrangement was almost coming to an end.

Even before his marriage to Maimuna, Ahmadi had bought land near the house of his elder brother, Ayuba. Ayuba had encouraged him to buy it because they were the only two brothers living in the same city among the sons of Alhaji Mutaqqa.

Bala lived in Katsina with his wife after his own marriage.

According to Ayuba, it was better for Ahmadi and him to live close to each other.

At the time Ahmadi bought the land, he only had half of the money. Since Ayuba was financially comfortable, he completed the payment for him. Later, Ahmadi gradually paid him back while also building the large house with Ayuba’s support.

Ahmadi Tries To Praise His Wife

Ahmadi looked at Maimuna and called her with the sweet praises he had used during their early marriage:

“Maimu, wife of Ahmadi, fair jewel of Dikko, fair light of my eyes.”

He praised her because she truly looked beautiful to him, even though their relationship was no longer as peaceful as before.

Maimuna completed his sentence with bitterness in her voice:

“The light that could not stop you from seeing Maryama.”

The jealousy in her tone was sharp and painful.

Ahmadi only shook his head.

Her anger over his plan to marry another wife was no longer new to him.

From the time he became a man, Ahmadi had already planned his life around having two wives. He had never imagined himself living with only one wife.

Because of this, he had told Maimuna during their wedding preparations that he intended to marry more than one wife in the future.

But at that time, she had only laughed.

Now he understood the meaning of that laughter.

She had not taken him seriously.

Ahmadi Looks For The Children

Trying to change the topic, he asked:

“Where are the children?”

He did not wait for her answer before entering the room, which was covered with a red carpet. The room looked bigger than usual because many of their belongings had already been moved to the new house.

They were gradually moving their things, since only a little work remained on the other section where Maryama would live.

As soon as he entered, Khalifa ran toward him happily, shouting in excitement. Zubaida also tried to repeat what Khalifa said in her own baby language.

Ahmadi laughed and carried Zubaida.

Whenever his eyes fell on his children, a special kind of happiness entered his heart.

He loved Maimuna, but he had grown up mostly knowing the love between siblings and family members. It was only after having Khalifa and Zubaida that he discovered a different kind of love, one he had never known before.

Maimuna Serves Food

Ahmadi sat with Zubaida on his body just as Maimuna entered with a tray holding plates of food.

He collected the tray from her because he did not want her to bend too much with her pregnancy. She then managed to find a place beside him and sat down.

He opened the food and saw rice with stew and meat from the market.

Immediately, he began thanking Allah for the blessings He had given them.

At a time when the economic hardship in the country had greatly affected Kano State, many people were struggling with scarcity. If a person found something to eat, no matter how simple, it was a blessing. How much more when the food included meat?

He picked up a spoon, poured stew beside the rice, mixed it, said Bismillah, and took a bite.

He closed his eyes because of how delicious the food tasted.

In this area, Maimuna had no rival in his heart.

He also appreciated that no matter how badly they quarreled, she never allowed it to affect his food or their private life as husband and wife. His health mattered greatly to her.

Ahmadi Praises Her Cooking

He looked at Khalifa and asked:

“Will you eat?”

Khalifa shook his head.

Ahmadi had only asked out of habit because he already knew the boy would not eat.

If he was not at home when food was served, Maimuna did not allow the children to put their hands into his food after eating theirs. She had not been raised with that kind of habit, and she would not allow her children to grow up with it.

Despite his deep love for them, Ahmadi did not interfere with her discipline of the children because he could testify that she was serious about raising them properly.

He looked at her with love and said:

“My Maimuna, when it comes to cooking, is there any food I will eat that can match the taste of yours?”

She only twisted her mouth.

Since Zubaida’s birth, the whole family had spoken often about Ahmadi’s love and care for Maimuna. He showed her attention openly without shame, even in front of people.

Many people linked this to his education, saying that schooling had influenced his behavior.

Ahmadi himself did not plan to stop his education at only one degree. He had the dream of studying deeply and going far academically.

Maimuna And Education

Maimuna had been withdrawn from school and married to him when she was in Junior Secondary School Two.

Because she knew how much Ahmadi loved education, she became determined to learn English. He was never tired of teaching her.

She did not want him to meet another woman in his academic world and feel that she, Maimuna, was lacking in any way.

Especially now that he had secured a teaching job at Bayero University through the help of one of his lecturers who was related to him by blood.

Because of years of effort and her own determination, Maimuna had learned enough English to express herself in many situations. Sometimes she spoke English to Ahmadi simply because she loved the praise he gave her for her intelligence.

She loved Ahmadi deeply and placed that love above almost everything.

But since childhood, Maimuna had carried extreme jealousy.

It was the kind of jealousy that made her refuse to wear the same clothes as her siblings. She had been beaten many times while growing up because she insisted she would not wear matching clothes with the rest of the children.

Maimuna’s Childhood Jealousy

Among all the girls in their room, Maimuna was the only one who joined her mother, whom they called Yayya, in being jealous of her father’s other wife, Inna.

Inna herself was not a bad woman. She tried to treat them well.

Even Yayya sometimes wondered where Maimuna had picked up such behavior because she was certain that was not the kind of upbringing she had given her.

If someone asked Maimuna when she first began disliking Inna, she would not be able to remember.

She only grew up realizing that she hated seeing Inna wear the same type of clothes as Yayya. She hated seeing Baba buy something for Inna openly in their presence.

Such things filled her heart with painful jealousy.

In her mind, if Inna had not married Yayya’s husband, she would not have had the right to stand proudly and wear the same clothes as Yayya.

She remembered her mother’s words when her mother was still alive:

“Maimuna, I do not know where you got this jealousy from. Wallahi, I do not know. May Allah reduce it for you so that it does not become a problem for you.”

In her heart, after saying ameen, Maimuna would think:

“I alone will live in my husband’s house. No woman will come and be given the same clothes as me.”

That was before she even understood the sweetness of marriage.

Now that she felt Ahmadi’s love running through every part of her, the jealousy became even stronger.

Ahmadi’s Warning Before Marriage

During their wedding preparations, Ahmadi had told her:

“You know your Ahmadi is a man of two wives, right?”

She laughed.

Every time he spoke about marrying two wives, she treated it as a joke. She thought he had heard stories about her jealousy and was only teasing her.

But the day he took her to see the house he was building, and she saw the structure of the building, her real fear began.

They returned home in shock.

She sat down heavily on the floor and screamed in a way Ahmadi had never seen before, not even when news of Yayya’s death reached them.

She cried out:

“You want to disgrace me? Ahmadi, you want to expose my shame? Is that why you are thinking of joining me with another woman? So all the love you show me is false? All your care is deception?”

Her words shook him deeply.

He had thought that telling her before marriage would reduce the pain when the time came. He had already noticed her jealousy, even toward his female relatives who were close to him.

If she disliked sharing his attention with his own relatives, what would happen when it came to another woman entirely?

Maryama Enters The Matter

Ahmadi thought that the knowledge of his intention to marry again would be the greatest shock between him and Maimuna.

But when the marriage date was fixed, and Maimuna learned exactly who he planned to marry, the real storm began.

The woman was Maryama.

Maryama was also from the Dikko family. Her connection to Maimuna was even stronger than her connection to Ahmadi because Maimuna’s maternal grandparents and Maryama’s maternal grandparents were close relatives.

She was not an outsider.

Ahmadi had already shown interest in Maryama, and her elder brother knew. The elders also knew. They had only kept the matter hidden because Ahmadi said he was not fully ready. He wanted his house to progress further before the marriage plans became public.

Maimuna Goes To Maryama’s Family House

On the day Maimuna learned that Maryama was the woman Ahmadi wanted to marry, the real chaos began.

By Allah’s mercy, Khalifa and Zubaida were at Yaya Ayuba’s house that day.

Maimuna did not even lock her own house.

She cried loudly and walked with her own feet to Maryama’s family house. She entered without greeting and poured out bitter words on them.

“So you were waiting for the earth to cover Yayya’s eyes before betraying me?

All the times you came to my house, it was not because of family love. It was because you were planning to marry your daughter to my husband.

Why, among all the men in the family, must it be my Ahmadi?

Why would you betray me like this?”

No matter how they tried to calm her, she refused.

She cried, shouted, and said many painful things, including insults she did not even know her mind had stored.

Everyone in Maryama’s house began wondering whether Maimuna had hidden spiritual problems that no one knew about.

People often say every woman has her own kind of spirit, only that many never find the situation that reveals it.

Finally, they called Maimuna’s aunt, Bare, who lived not far from them. Bare came and managed to pull Maimuna out of the house, taking her to her own home.

The Fire Of Jealousy

Maimuna’s jealousy was not ordinary.

It was not only about losing Ahmadi.

It was about sharing what she believed belonged only to her.

To her, Ahmadi was not only a husband. He was her pride, her comfort, her victory, and the proof that she had a place of honor.

Maryama’s arrival threatened that place.

It threatened the love she believed belonged to her alone.

It threatened the home she wanted to rule without a rival.

And because Maryama was not an outsider but a close relative, the pain felt like betrayal from every direction.

Ahmadi’s Dilemma

Ahmadi was not a man who hated Maimuna.

He loved her.

He valued her cooking, her care, her attention to his health, and her discipline over their children. He knew she was not useless. He knew she had many good qualities.

But he also believed he had the right to marry a second wife, especially since he had told her his intention before marriage.

To him, marrying again was not a betrayal.

To Maimuna, it was the greatest betrayal.

That difference became the wall between them.

The Meaning Of Maartabarmu

The title Maartabarmu carries the feeling of dignity, value, and honor.

Inside this story, dignity is tested in many ways.

Maimuna feels her dignity is being reduced by the arrival of another wife.

Ahmadi feels his right as a man and his family plans should be respected.

Maryama’s family feels wrongly attacked after being accused of betrayal.

The Dikko family’s tradition of marrying within the family also adds pressure to the conflict.

Everyone is fighting to protect something:

Love.

Respect.

Marriage.

Family name.

And personal dignity.

Conclusion

Maartabarmu Book 1 Complete Hausa Novel opens with a strong marital conflict between Ahmadi and Maimuna.

Ahmadi is a young educated man from the Dikko family who loves his wife and children but has always planned to marry two wives. Maimuna is beautiful, intelligent, hardworking, and deeply loved by him, but her extreme jealousy makes the idea of a second wife unbearable.

When Maryama becomes the woman Ahmadi plans to marry, Maimuna sees it as betrayal from both her husband and her relatives. Her pain turns into anger, and her anger shakes the peace of both families.

The story begins with love, jealousy, tradition, family ties, and the painful question of dignity inside marriage.

Can Ahmadi protect the love he has for Maimuna while bringing Maryama into his life?

Can Maimuna survive the jealousy that has followed her since childhood?

And how much can a marriage endure when love and pride begin to fight each other?