Dan Gargajiya Book 1 Complete Hausa Novel
Dan Gargajiya Book 1 Complete Hausa Novel is a dramatic Hausa story about tradition, ignorance, family pressure, childbirth, marriage, and the danger of confusing cultural practices with religion. This English translation presents the story in clean WordPress HTML format for Hausa novel readers.
Dan Gargajiya Book 1 Complete Hausa Novel English Translation
Bahijja was lying down in severe labor pain. There was no one with her. She kept praying to her Creator, asking for ease and relief.
After some time, a little strength came to her. She dragged herself toward her mirror, picked up her phone, and dialed her mother’s number.
After two rings, her mother answered and placed the phone to her ear. As soon as she heard her daughter’s voice, she knew that something was wrong.
“Umma, forgive me. I think I am going to die. Please ask Baba to forgive me too,” Bahijja said.
Her mother became terribly worried because she knew her daughter was heavily pregnant and living in a traditional household.
While she was still thinking about what to do, Alhaji Mahmud came out from the bathroom. She quickly told him what was happening. Immediately, he wore his clothes and said they should go and see Bahijja’s condition.
He brought out his car, and they left.
When they arrived, he told Umma to enter first and check the situation. After barely two minutes, she came running back and said,
“Alhaji, come in quickly. Let us carry her to the hospital before the baby comes out. She can hardly move properly.”
Before she even finished speaking, Alhaji Mahmud rushed inside, carried Bahijja, and they headed straight to the hospital.
As soon as they arrived, the nurses quickly gave emergency assistance and took her to the delivery room in order to save her life and the baby’s life.
Badaru Returns Home
On Badaru’s side, who was Bahijja’s husband, he returned home and stormed into the house with anger, behaving as if he could not tolerate disrespect.
When he entered and saw that Bahijja was not there, he came out and went to his mother’s place, asking whether Bahijja had entered her house.
His mother opened her mouth and said, “How would I see her?”
While they were still talking, Badaru’s younger sister returned from an errand. She told them that she had seen Bahijja’s mother and father come and take her to the hospital.
Badaru burst into serious insults and said,
“So they want to bring city behavior into my house and break the system of our parents and grandparents, even though I am Dan Gargajiya from head to toe?”
He stormed out angrily and went straight to the hospital where he believed he would find them. Fortunately for him, that was the hospital they had gone to, because he saw his mother-in-law sitting there.
He entered the section where nurses and women in labor were gathered and began causing trouble. He beat his chest and said,
“We are traditional people. No one disrespects us. How can my wife be taken away without informing me or even informing my mother? This is an insult. My mother is alive, yet no one told her. She only heard about it later.”
Bahijja’s mother said, “Please calm down. We found her in a very serious condition…”
Before she could finish, he interrupted her with rude words and selfish anger.
Everyone watched what was happening, but no one could say anything to Badaru, not even the nurses.
Then a brave woman stood up at the exact moment he was asking who had the right to bring his wife to the hospital.
Angrily, she stood before him and said, “Your father did.”
Who is this woman, and how will her confrontation with Badaru end?
Find the answer on the next page.
Dan Gargajiya
Dan Gargajiya
Tradition is not religion.
Written by Ummu Rahma.
A short story filled with entertainment, village life, and lack of proper religious understanding.
Page 5 to 10
The woman looked at Badaru and said, “What kind of merciless person are you? What kind of man are you, one who rejects the mercy of the Creator? Do you even know the condition in which she was brought here before you came to insult people?”
Badaru replied arrogantly, “It is none of your business, Hajiya.”
He stood there angrily, like a man preparing to run in an open field.
Malama Ramatu said, “It is my business because you touched a woman. Would you like someone to do this to your sister, your daughter, or your mother?”
Badaru quickly said, “No, Hajiya. Not my mother, by Allah.”
Malama Ramatu replied, “Even your mother. The woman you are insulting is also someone’s mother. She is also a woman like yours.”
She spoke with anger, and truly, Malama Ramatu looked as if she wanted to cover him with beating.
She continued, “Now tell me, for Allah’s sake, do you think what you have done is right? You came here showing this behavior and claiming that you are a man of tradition. Tell me, where did this behavior come from in religion?”
Badaru became silent. He was thinking about the boldness of this woman. Before he could finish his thoughts, she threw another question at him.
“How many children do you have?”
Badaru almost refused to answer, but finally he said, “I have one daughter, and the second child is the one about to be born.”
Malama Ramatu said, “Alhamdulillahi. Write this down and keep it. One day, it may come back to you.”
Badaru was about to speak when a nurse came out of the delivery room to call Malama Ramatu because the woman she had brought to the hospital had delivered safely.
Malama Ramatu started to leave, then turned back and said, “And I will return to you.”
Kauyen Bandaas
Kauyen Bandaas
“Hinde! Hinde! Hinde! Where have you gone? The goats are about to eat the vegetables I brought for you to cook for me.”
When the woman called Hinde did not come out, he lifted the curtain of her room to check whether she was inside.
He stopped suddenly when he saw her praying.
Immediately, he began complaining angrily, talking from every direction.
“So, Hinde, because of your stubbornness, even the prayer you cannot leave until later? You must pray it now? I knew this would happen. That is why, as soon as the imam finished the Jumu’ah prayer, I came straight home to see with my own eyes.”
He continued, “Every day, you refuse to follow what our parents left for us because you went to the city and learned disobedience. Even Friday prayer, you cannot leave yours until after we have returned for a long time because of stubbornness.”
While he was saying all this, Hinde was listening. She felt deeply annoyed by his character because in everything, he must bring up the issue of gargajiya, tradition.
This was Malam Maude, Hinde’s husband, a man who inherited customs from his parents and grandparents. If tradition were sold, people would go to his place to buy it. He was a man with a very strict mindset, yet he did not have deep religious knowledge.
When he finished talking, Hinde also completed her prayer and supplications. Then she began answering him with wisdom and religious understanding.
Hinde Advises Malam Maude
She said, “Haba, Malam. It is not right that until now, you have not been able to let go of this belief of always saying ‘parents and grandparents.’ The religion of Allah has nothing to do with blind tradition or lack of tradition. But until now, you have failed to understand me.”
He shouted, “Shut your mouth. What do you know about what the world contains? You people did not meet our honorable customs.”
He said this while breathing heavily.
Hinde interrupted him calmly.
“Please be patient, Malam. I am not saying your customs are bad. No. I am only saying there are places where tradition should not be allowed to overpower the religion, especially in matters of worship.”
She continued, “You should know that among the hadiths of the Messenger of Allah, there are teachings that guide us when we go to the mosque. We should cover our bodies properly and not go out in the manner of ignorance.”
She added, “And this prayer you are saying I should delay, what if I die before that time comes?”
About Dan Gargajiya Book 1 Complete Hausa Novel
Dan Gargajiya Book 1 Complete Hausa Novel begins with the painful story of Bahijja, a pregnant woman whose life is put at risk because her husband Badaru is more concerned about tradition than mercy, health, and religious understanding.
This part of Dan Gargajiya Book 1 Complete Hausa Novel also introduces Hinde and Malam Maude, another household where culture and religion clash. The story teaches that tradition can have value, but it must never be placed above mercy, knowledge, and the true teachings of Islam.