Shahaab Part 1 Complete Hausa Novel By Amna El Yakub

Aisha and Aisha were best friends. They went to school together from JSS1 all the way to senior secondary school at Goron Dutse in Kano State. Both of them were indigenes of Kano—Aysha Sulaiman Bompai and Aysha Yakubu Sagagi.

They were extremely close. Whenever someone came to visit one of them, they would go together; the same applied to the other. No one ever heard of any quarrel between them in school. Many people even thought they were sisters, but they were not related by blood—only by friendship and the deep love Allah placed between them.

Before they finished secondary school, they made a promise: if, after marriage, one of them gave birth to a boy and the other to a girl, they would marry their children to each other. If they both had girls, they would name them AISHA, after themselves. If they both had boys, they would name them MAHMUD.

In those days, they did not even have proper uniforms. They wore Ankara fabric as uniforms. The school provided a blouse and wrapper, plus another piece of cloth which they used as a veil. There were no phones then—only handwritten letters if you wanted to send a message.

While they were still in the midst of this strong friendship, graduation came. They finished school filled with longing for one another. After everyone returned home, Aysha Sulaiman Bompai—whose parents were well-to-do—asked her family driver to take her to Sagagi to visit her friend, Aysha Yakubu Sagagi. After much difficulty finding the house (since there were no phones), she finally arrived. Aysha Yakubu Sagagi was overjoyed by the visit.

They spent a long time talking like young girls do, and once again they renewed their promise: if one had a girl and the other a boy, they would marry them; if they had girls, they would name them Aisha; if boys, Mahmud.

With thoughts of that promise in her heart, Aysha Sulaiman Bompai returned home. That was the last time they saw each other—for sixty-six years. Each searched for the other, but there was no news.

A few days after that visit, Aysha Sulaiman Bompai’s father was transferred to Jigawa. At that time, Jigawa had not yet been separated from Kano State. When Aysha Yakubu Sagagi noticed the silence, she went to look for her friend, only to be told that they had sold their house and moved to Jigawa. She searched tirelessly until she grew exhausted.

Life slowly turned. Days became weeks, weeks became months, and months became years. Aysha Yakubu Sagagi married a wealthy Nigerien businessman who had come to Kano for trade.

Meanwhile, in Jigawa, Allah brought Aysha Sulaiman Bompai a husband from Hadejia. He later took her to a village in Dutse called Chamo. Her father eventually retired and moved back to Kano permanently, buying a house in Yankaba.

Aysha Sulaiman endured the separation from her parents and focused on her husband. They lived peacefully, and Allah blessed her with pregnancy. After a long labor, she gave birth to a baby boy. Without hesitation, she told her husband she wanted to name him MAHMUD—and so he was named.

He was the first to call her “Hajja,” and later the villagers also called her Hajja A’i. After his birth, she never conceived again.

When Mahmud reached marriageable age, he married a Fulani woman named Hadiza. Four months into their marriage, Hajja’s husband passed away. She continued caring for her beloved Mahmud—whom the villagers called Mamuda.

Not long after his marriage, Hadiza gave birth to a baby girl who looked exactly like her. Mamuda wanted to name the baby after his mother, but Hajja A’i (Aysha Sulaiman Bompai) jumped up and insisted that the child be named after her long-lost friend, Aysha.

Mamuda insisted he would name his daughter after his mother—but not after her friend. Hajja stood firm. If he didn’t want to use her name, fine—but the child must bear her friend’s name, the friend she still hoped to meet again someday.

Eventually, after Hadiza persuaded her husband—since the names were technically the same—Mamuda named his daughter Aisha. But to this day, Hajja insists the girl was not named after her, but after her friend. That is why she calls her granddaughter “Me Sunan Qawa” (The One Named After My Friend).

So the little girl bore the name of Aysha Yakubu Sagagi.

When Aisha was one and a half years old, Allah blessed her mother with another child, a boy named Jabir. The age difference between him and Aisha was small. After that, no more children were born.

Aisha and her younger brother Jabir became very close. After finishing secondary school, Aisha could not continue her education due to lack of money, but she never gave up hope of studying someday—even if it would be in her husband’s house. Jabir also stopped schooling after finishing secondary school.

Because of this, Hajja A’i started selling tiger-nut drink (kunun aya), saving money for Jabir’s education and for the marriage of “Me Sunan Qawa.”

They lived peacefully, although whenever Hajja’s old-age temper flared up, she would unsettle the whole house. Only Me Sunan Qawa could calm her down. When she was in a good mood, the house was peaceful; but when her stubbornness rose—then everyone had to follow her lead.

Aisha attended an Islamic school, where she was paid two thousand naira monthly. She saved four months’ worth of her allowance and bought a goat to rear. Her plan was to sell it once Jabir gained admission, so she could buy him provisions.

She was not very talkative, but whenever she spoke, her words surprised people. She was very beautiful—the most beautiful in her class. She had long, smooth Fulani-style hair, a small pink mouth, and long eyelashes that many people thought were artificial. She had an innocent face; she could commit an offense, yet look so pitiful that you would never believe she was responsible. At first glance, you would think she was a saintly girl.

But if provoked—there was no patience in her. She had a fiery temper.

Was it Hajja’s character she inherited—Aysha Sulaiman Bompai’s? Or did she inherit the temperament of her grandmother’s friend—Aysha Yakubu Sagagi?

Let us dive deeper into the story to find out. 😃