Ya Abin Yake Book 1 Complete Hausa Novel: Narrative Summary & English Adaptation

Part 1: Morning Cruelty and Painful Contrast

At dawn, Hamda is brutally kicked awake by her mother, Ammi. Burning with a high fever, Hamda barely opens her heavy eyes. This abusive wake-up routine happens every single morning at early dawn, treating Hamda worse than a stranger’s child.

Overwhelmed with tears, Hamda reflects on how her father’s co-wife, Mahmah, shows her far more kindness and care than her own biological mother. However, Mahmah can only show sympathy in secret because Ammi becomes violently hostile toward anyone who pities Hamda.

Hamda slowly sits up on her worn-out boarding school mattress—the only bed given to her after graduating secondary school. Clutching her throbbing head, she pleads:

“Please Ammi, I woke up with a severe headache today. I can’t do anything.”

Ammi glares back with cold contempt:

“As if today is the first time you’ve worked while sick! Get up before I strike you! Ever since you were born—even though you weren’t the child I wanted—you were destined for a life of misery. I hate opening my eyes to see you. I despise you more than anyone on earth. Get up and go start your usual chores!”

Hamda struggles to her feet, tears streaming down her face as she glances into her older sisters’ spacious bedroom. Her three older sisters lie comfortably asleep on soft beds. Each of them is significantly older—the eldest by ten years, the next by eight years, and the third by six years—yet none are married, living idly at home after obtaining university degrees while waiting for wealthy politicians or ministers.

Hamda cannot understand why she, the youngest child (auta), receives relentless hatred while her older sisters are spared from all domestic labor.

Part 2: The Roots of Ammi’s Hatred

Hamda ponders the potential reasons behind Ammi’s deep-seated resentment:

Physical Appearance: Ammi is of Jordanian-Arab descent with fair skin and smooth hair. Hamda’s older sisters inherited their mother’s light skin and hair. In contrast, Hamda was born with dark skin and dense, coarse hair. Though many people remark that Hamda possesses a striking, delicate beauty and a better physical stature than her sisters, Ammi despises her dark complexion.
The Shattered Expectation: Local relatives revealed that Ammi was desperate to give birth to a son to match her co-wife’s male children. During her pregnancy, an ultrasound scan confirmed a boy, making Ammi overly expectant. However, on the day of delivery, Hamda was born a girl with dark skin, shattering Ammi’s desires and igniting a permanent hatred.

Part 3: Kitchen Chores, Collapse, and Emergency

Ammi shoves Hamda toward the kitchen, shouting:

“Move before I beat you! Are you trying to expose me so your father returns from the mosque and starts shouting at me?!”

In the freezing morning air, Hamda washes dishes with ice-cold tap water while shivering uncontrollably. After cleaning the kitchen and turning on Qur’anic recitation, she slips into her room, retrieves hidden Panadol (secretly purchased by her sister Muneerah), and swallows it.

She then wakes her older sisters for sallah. Noticing her sister’s violent shivering, Muneerah gently places a hand on Hamda’s forehead:

“Sorry Little… is the fever back?”

Tears swell in Hamda’s eyes. Weak and unable to stand, she performs her prayer while seated. Once finished, Muneerah quietly follows her into the hallway to help with household chores before Ammi notices.

While carrying the trash outside, the severe cold overpowers Hamda’s weak body. Her teeth chatter violently, her eyes roll back, and she collapses onto the floor unconscious.

Part 4: The Hospital Diagnosis and Abbu’s Rage

From her window, Mahmah witnesses the collapse and rushes outside with a cry of horror. She cradles the unconscious girl just as their father, Abbu, returns from the mosque. Terrified, Abbu lifts Hamda into his arms and rushes her to the car, with Mahmah joining them.

At the hospital, the doctor conducts urgent tests for typhoid and malaria. Returning with the results, the doctor confronts Abbu in frustration:

“Why are people so heartless?! Is this girl a servant, an orphan, or a child whose mother abandoned her to suffer like this? She has severe Typhoid, Malaria, and advanced Pneumonia! If left untreated, she could develop chronic asthma!”

Shame and intense anger wash over Abbu. He realizes how terribly Sakinah (Ammi) has abused his daughter. The doctor immediately admits Hamda to a hospital ward.

Abbu turns to Mahmah, asking her to stay by Hamda’s bedside:

“Please stay with her. I’m exhausted by Sakinah’s behavior. Today, I will teach her a lesson she will never forget.”

Mahmah adjusts Hamda’s headcover on the hospital bed, replying:

“I never understood this hatred. Even if a co-wife’s child were left in my care, I could never do what Sakinah does to her own flesh and blood.”

Part 5: The Father’s Confrontation & Yaya Hammad’s Legacy

Abbu storms into the house, furiously shouting Ammi’s name. Ammi comes out, her heart racing. Abbu points his finger at her, declaring:

“I never fully realized I married an ignorant woman until you gave birth to Hamda! Either you change your ways, or I swear by Allah I will sever our marriage! You gathered all the hatred in the world and dumped it on my daughter just because she was born a girl! Sadiya (Mahmah) wanted to raise her, but you refused just so you could keep torturing her! If she loses her life because of this illness, I will take you to court for child murder! From today, Hamda is transferred to Sadiya’s care, and you are forbidden from touching her!”

Ammi scoffs dismissively as Abbu leaves:

“What a waste of noise! I thought something serious happened. If they told me that useless girl died right now, I would dance out of pure joy!”

Standing nearby, Muneerah wipes her tears and prays for her sister. She remembers their eldest brother, Yaya Hammad—the only person who ever stood up to Ammi on Hamda’s behalf. Twelve years ago, after Ammi severely beat four-year-old Hamda, Hammad confronted Ammi, called her ignorant, and nearly slapped her. Following that massive fight, Hammad moved to Birmingham, England, and refused to return to Nigeria since.