Whenever Idris met his friends, they would praise him as the groom and ask him when they would come to eat the bride’s cooking. But he would become angry and start complaining to them about Ummi. He told them about her terrible cold illness, how she kept coughing, her dirtiness, and how he had been forced to marry a useless leftover girl. His friends would laugh at him and call him “the groom of a sickly bride.”
They warned him that if he did not take the matter seriously, he would suffer because of it.
Whenever they asked him why his marriage to Hindu had been cancelled, he hid the real reason from them.
In fact, he had still not left Hindu. They secretly met in other places, despite the many warnings her father had given her about Idris.
---
On the day Na’ima was returning home, she met Magaji (Hashim) on the road. After greeting each other she asked:
“Brother Magaji, so Ummi has been married off without anyone informing us?”
Hashim replied,
“Na’ima, the matter happened suddenly. Even I only heard about it the day before the wedding.”
Na’ima shook her head and said:
“Forgive me for what I am about to say, but you people should tell your grandmother and your brother the truth. Why would Ummi’s education be stopped and she be forced into marriage with someone who does not love her? No one even asked her opinion. She is terrified in that house. Her body shows signs of beatings. He chased her out of the room. The room I saw her in has no door, no window, nothing to sit on. He doesn’t even give her food. What kind of life is that? She never had peace in your house, and now that she is married she has entered a new chapter of suffering. When will she ever rest? Why does Iya hate Ummi so much as if she is not her own grandchild?”
Hashim sighed deeply with sadness and said:
“The obedience our parents show to Iya comes from the will of our late father, who ordered them to obey her. But I don’t understand why they obey her blindly without guiding her toward the right path. I tried my best to stop this marriage, but they were stronger than me. Besides, I am not financially stable. Idris carries the name of her father. And Iya already hated Ummi’s mother because Uncle Magaji loved her deeply and sometimes could not hide it. Also, Ummi’s father died poor and left nothing behind. Still, I do not know why her hatred toward Ummi has become so intense.
I will continue advising Idris even though he doesn’t listen. I will also go visit Ummi now to see how she is doing.”
Na’ima said sadly,
“That is necessary. Ummi really needs care and support. Honestly, I pity her deeply. Please keep checking on her.”
“Don’t worry,” Hashim said. “Thank you very much for the help you are giving Ummi.”
Na’ima replied,
“It’s nothing. Ummi is like my younger sister. I will never forget the kindness her parents showed me.”
They said goodbye and each went their separate way.
---
Instead of going home, Hashim went directly to Idris’s house, a place he had never visited before.
He greeted from outside. Ummi peeped out, and when she saw him she smiled.
“Brother Magaji! Please come in. It’s only today you came.”
Even though it was dark, he could still see the mark of a slap near her eye.
She invited him inside but he said,
“No, just bring something for me to sit on here.”
She brought him a mat and spread it for him.
She said happily,
“Brother, Na’ima came to visit me.”
“Really?”
“Yes, she bought many things for me. Even this mat is from her.”
“Masha Allah. May Allah reward her.”
“Amin,” Ummi replied.
He looked at her carefully and asked softly,
“Ummi, is everything okay? Is there any problem?”
She nodded and said, “Yes.”
He sighed and said,
“I know even if you don’t say it, something is wrong. But please be patient. Everything will pass with time.”
Ummi’s eyes filled with tears.
“When will it pass? Tomorrow? The day after?”
“Time will turn it into history,” he said.
She began crying quietly.
“Be strong, Ummi. One day these tears will turn into smiles.”
---
Suddenly Idris burst in without greeting anyone. The way Ummi jumped in fear was enough to break someone’s heart.
Without even looking at them, he went straight into his room.
Hashim followed him.
Ummi quietly swept the courtyard while she heard them arguing inside.
Hashim said angrily:
“Fear Allah! If you keep following Iya blindly, Allah will not leave you alone. You are tormenting an orphan for no reason.”
Idris replied,
“Tormenting her? Did I ask to marry her? Did I say I love her? Why didn’t they marry her to you instead? They forced this dirty leftover girl on me. I swear I will not live with her until she runs away herself.”
Hashim said,
“But she also did not ask to marry you. It was Iya’s decision. She is enduring it, why can’t you endure it too?”
“I will not! Leave my business before I insult you as well!”
They argued loudly until Hashim left.
As soon as he left, Idris began beating and insulting Ummi again, accusing her of reporting him.
Even an elderly neighbor who heard Ummi’s cries came to intervene, begging Idris to stop. But he rudely ordered her to leave.
From that day on, his cruelty toward Ummi increased.
He forced her to wash his clothes, beat her if she delayed, and constantly insulted her.
He never brought food for her—not even tomatoes. Sometimes she asked Iya for food; sometimes she gave her some, sometimes she refused.
Eventually an elderly neighbor began secretly feeding Ummi.
---
One day Ummi heard Idris’s friends greeting him and calling him “the groom of the sick bride.”
Later she heard them ask, “Where is your sick bride?”
Idris replied angrily:
“Don’t ever connect me with that disgusting girl.”
Even though Ummi was very young, she understood that Idris had exposed her illness to his friends. She cried until her head hurt.
She endured one full month in that house under terrible suffering.
Eventually she fell seriously ill with fever, diarrhea, and weakness.
When Idris found her lying down sick, he threw his clothes at her and ordered her to wash them.
She said weakly, “Brother, I am sick.”
“I don’t care. Get up!”
When she delayed, he kicked her violently.
Finally, after insulting her again, he divorced her on the spot.
Barefoot and weak, she left the house and returned to Iya’s home.
She collapsed from dizziness before she could even explain.
When she woke up crying she said,
“Iya, I am dying. Idris will kill me. Please don’t send me back. He said he divorced me.”
---
Later Uncle Yahaya arrived unexpectedly.
When Ummi saw him she stretched out her hand and cried:
“Uncle, please take me to my mother. If I return to Idris’s house he will kill me. If you don’t know where my mother is, take me to an orphanage or an Islamic school. I will die if I stay here.”
Uncle Yahaya was shocked when he saw her swollen face and injured arm.
He demanded Idris divorce her properly.
Finally Idris wrote two divorce statements and gave them to him.
Yahaya said,
“Get up Ummi. Let’s go.”
The family gathered to watch as she left for Kano with her uncle.
Hashim told her gently:
“Take care of yourself and focus on your studies.”
Ummi said,
“Please tell Na’ima I couldn’t say goodbye. I don’t want her to see me like this.”
They began the journey to Kano.
On the way Yahaya advised her:
“When we arrive, don’t tell anyone you were once married.”
Ummi nodded.
Because she felt sick and kept vomiting, he stopped to buy medicine and some fruit for her.
When they reached Kano, he first took her to a hospital where she was examined.
A nurse asked what her problem was, but Ummi was too shy and ashamed to speak.
Whenever Idris met his friends, they would praise him as the groom and ask him when they would come to eat the bride’s cooking. But he would become angry and start complaining to them about Ummi. He told them about her terrible cold illness, how she kept coughing, her dirtiness, and how he had been forced to marry a useless leftover girl. His friends would laugh at him and call him “the groom of a sickly bride.”
They warned him that if he did not take the matter seriously, he would suffer because of it.
Whenever they asked him why his marriage to Hindu had been cancelled, he hid the real reason from them.
In fact, he had still not left Hindu. They secretly met in other places, despite the many warnings her father had given her about Idris.
---
On the day Na’ima was returning home, she met Magaji (Hashim) on the road. After greeting each other she asked:
“Brother Magaji, so Ummi has been married off without anyone informing us?”
Hashim replied,
“Na’ima, the matter happened suddenly. Even I only heard about it the day before the wedding.”
Na’ima shook her head and said:
“Forgive me for what I am about to say, but you people should tell your grandmother and your brother the truth. Why would Ummi’s education be stopped and she be forced into marriage with someone who does not love her? No one even asked her opinion. She is terrified in that house. Her body shows signs of beatings. He chased her out of the room. The room I saw her in has no door, no window, nothing to sit on. He doesn’t even give her food. What kind of life is that? She never had peace in your house, and now that she is married she has entered a new chapter of suffering. When will she ever rest? Why does Iya hate Ummi so much as if she is not her own grandchild?”
Hashim sighed deeply with sadness and said:
“The obedience our parents show to Iya comes from the will of our late father, who ordered them to obey her. But I don’t understand why they obey her blindly without guiding her toward the right path. I tried my best to stop this marriage, but they were stronger than me. Besides, I am not financially stable. Idris carries the name of her father. And Iya already hated Ummi’s mother because Uncle Magaji loved her deeply and sometimes could not hide it. Also, Ummi’s father died poor and left nothing behind. Still, I do not know why her hatred toward Ummi has become so intense.
I will continue advising Idris even though he doesn’t listen. I will also go visit Ummi now to see how she is doing.”
Na’ima said sadly,
“That is necessary. Ummi really needs care and support. Honestly, I pity her deeply. Please keep checking on her.”
“Don’t worry,” Hashim said. “Thank you very much for the help you are giving Ummi.”
Na’ima replied,
“It’s nothing. Ummi is like my younger sister. I will never forget the kindness her parents showed me.”
They said goodbye and each went their separate way.
---
Instead of going home, Hashim went directly to Idris’s house, a place he had never visited before.
He greeted from outside. Ummi peeped out, and when she saw him she smiled.
“Brother Magaji! Please come in. It’s only today you came.”
Even though it was dark, he could still see the mark of a slap near her eye.
She invited him inside but he said,
“No, just bring something for me to sit on here.”
She brought him a mat and spread it for him.
She said happily,
“Brother, Na’ima came to visit me.”
“Really?”
“Yes, she bought many things for me. Even this mat is from her.”
“Masha Allah. May Allah reward her.”
“Amin,” Ummi replied.
He looked at her carefully and asked softly,
“Ummi, is everything okay? Is there any problem?”
She nodded and said, “Yes.”
He sighed and said,
“I know even if you don’t say it, something is wrong. But please be patient. Everything will pass with time.”
Ummi’s eyes filled with tears.
“When will it pass? Tomorrow? The day after?”
“Time will turn it into history,” he said.
She began crying quietly.
“Be strong, Ummi. One day these tears will turn into smiles.”
---
Suddenly Idris burst in without greeting anyone. The way Ummi jumped in fear was enough to break someone’s heart.
Without even looking at them, he went straight into his room.
Hashim followed him.
Ummi quietly swept the courtyard while she heard them arguing inside.
Hashim said angrily:
“Fear Allah! If you keep following Iya blindly, Allah will not leave you alone. You are tormenting an orphan for no reason.”
Idris replied,
“Tormenting her? Did I ask to marry her? Did I say I love her? Why didn’t they marry her to you instead? They forced this dirty leftover girl on me. I swear I will not live with her until she runs away herself.”
Hashim said,
“But she also did not ask to marry you. It was Iya’s decision. She is enduring it, why can’t you endure it too?”
“I will not! Leave my business before I insult you as well!”
They argued loudly until Hashim left.
As soon as he left, Idris began beating and insulting Ummi again, accusing her of reporting him.
Even an elderly neighbor who heard Ummi’s cries came to intervene, begging Idris to stop. But he rudely ordered her to leave.
From that day on, his cruelty toward Ummi increased.
He forced her to wash his clothes, beat her if she delayed, and constantly insulted her.
He never brought food for her—not even tomatoes. Sometimes she asked Iya for food; sometimes she gave her some, sometimes she refused.
Eventually an elderly neighbor began secretly feeding Ummi.
---
One day Ummi heard Idris’s friends greeting him and calling him “the groom of the sick bride.”
Later she heard them ask, “Where is your sick bride?”
Idris replied angrily:
“Don’t ever connect me with that disgusting girl.”
Even though Ummi was very young, she understood that Idris had exposed her illness to his friends. She cried until her head hurt.
She endured one full month in that house under terrible suffering.
Eventually she fell seriously ill with fever, diarrhea, and weakness.
When Idris found her lying down sick, he threw his clothes at her and ordered her to wash them.
She said weakly, “Brother, I am sick.”
“I don’t care. Get up!”
When she delayed, he kicked her violently.
Finally, after insulting her again, he divorced her on the spot.
Barefoot and weak, she left the house and returned to Iya’s home.
She collapsed from dizziness before she could even explain.
When she woke up crying she said,
“Iya, I am dying. Idris will kill me. Please don’t send me back. He said he divorced me.”
---
Later Uncle Yahaya arrived unexpectedly.
When Ummi saw him she stretched out her hand and cried:
“Uncle, please take me to my mother. If I return to Idris’s house he will kill me. If you don’t know where my mother is, take me to an orphanage or an Islamic school. I will die if I stay here.”
Uncle Yahaya was shocked when he saw her swollen face and injured arm.
He demanded Idris divorce her properly.
Finally Idris wrote two divorce statements and gave them to him.
Yahaya said,
“Get up Ummi. Let’s go.”
The family gathered to watch as she left for Kano with her uncle.
Hashim told her gently:
“Take care of yourself and focus on your studies.”
Ummi said,
“Please tell Na’ima I couldn’t say goodbye. I don’t want her to see me like this.”
They began the journey to Kano.
On the way Yahaya advised her:
“When we arrive, don’t tell anyone you were once married.”
Ummi nodded.
Because she felt sick and kept vomiting, he stopped to buy medicine and some fruit for her.
When they reached Kano, he first took her to a hospital where she was examined.
A nurse asked what her problem was, but Ummi was too shy and ashamed to speak.
The nurse finally asked gently again:
“Tell me, what exactly is bothering you?”
Ummi lowered her head and whispered:
“It itches…”