FAHIMAH

Book 1 Complete
Written by Takori Kabara

Hook

For eighteen years, Fahimah has known only one woman as her mother and one man as her brother. Hajiya Safiyyah has given her everything a daughter could ask for, while Uwais Abdulkarim Shagari has given her nothing but coldness, rejection, and a hatred Fahimah has never understood.

She does not know where she came from. She does not know who her biological parents were. She does not know why Uwais looks at her as though her very existence is an offence against him.

But there is a reason.

A reason buried fifteen years in the past.

And when Fahimah's innocent heart begins to develop feelings she cannot explain for the very man who cannot stand the sight of her, the secret surrounding her birth becomes far more dangerous than she could ever imagine.

Because sometimes the greatest mystery in a person's life is not who they love, but why they were brought into the family in the first place.

Summary

Fahimah grows up in the wealthy household of Hajiya Safiyyah Basudaniyyah in Kano. To everyone who sees them together, Safiyyah is simply her mother, and Fahimah is the beloved daughter of the house. Safiyyah treats her with genuine maternal affection, protects her, educates her, and gives her the kind of upbringing that makes Fahimah forget that she was not born into the family. Yet there is one person who refuses to accept that bond. Uwais, Safiyyah's only biological son, has never regarded Fahimah as a sister. From childhood, he has treated her with hostility, deliberately keeping his distance and making her feel unwanted whenever they are alone.

Uwais is successful, educated, disciplined, wealthy, and respected. He has inherited much of his father's sense of responsibility and has become a successful banker and branch manager. He is also fiercely attached to his mother. His possessiveness toward Safiyyah is so strong that he has never accepted the idea of her remarrying. In his mind, she is the only family he needs. The arrival of Fahimah into their lives therefore becomes something he considers an intrusion. What Fahimah sees as unexplained hatred is connected to a history she knows nothing about. Uwais eventually discovers that Fahimah was taken from an orphanage, and that knowledge only deepens the resentment he has carried for years.

While Uwais remains consumed by his dislike for Fahimah, Fahimah's own heart begins betraying her. She has spent most of her life admiring Uwais despite the cruelty he shows her. At first, she does not understand the strange emotions that surface whenever he enters a room. His voice stays in her thoughts, his presence unsettles her, and his image follows her even when she tries to concentrate on schoolwork. Eventually, she realizes that what she feels is not ordinary admiration. She has developed an intense emotional attachment to the man she has always called Yaya Uwais, even though she knows that her feelings can never lead anywhere. His rejection hurts her, but the deeper pain comes from knowing that the person occupying her heart is the same person who wishes she had never been part of his life.

Meanwhile, another relationship begins to take shape elsewhere. Uwais meets Amrah, a young medical student and the daughter of Alhaji Umar Dikko. Unlike his relationship with Fahimah, Uwais's feelings for Amrah are immediate and sincere. He approaches her family properly and seeks her father's permission before pursuing the relationship. Alhaji Umar agrees to allow him to seek Amrah's hand provided she accepts him and provided Uwais promises not to interfere with her education. Uwais gladly accepts the condition because he believes he has finally found the woman he wants to build his future with. His affection for Amrah reveals a completely different side of his personality, one that Fahimah has never been allowed to see.

As Uwais and Amrah grow closer, Fahimah is left fighting a private emotional battle. She knows the person she loves does not see her as a woman worthy of his affection. Worse still, she knows that he considers her an unwanted addition to the family. Unable to confess what is happening inside her heart, Fahimah turns to prayer and asks Allah to remove Uwais from her thoughts. Yet her emotions refuse to disappear. At the same time, Hajiya Safiyyah begins to wonder whether the future she has imagined for Fahimah can ever become reality. She knows the truth about the girl's origins, and she knows that finding a suitable husband for Fahimah may not be as simple as it appears.

The story then reaches back into the past to reveal how Fahimah entered Safiyyah's life. After the birth of her second child, Safiyyah suffered a devastating medical complication that resulted in the removal of her womb. She had already lost her husband, Grand Khadi Abdulkarim Shagari, and was left with Uwais as her only biological child. Her longing for a daughter never disappeared. Eventually, she decided to adopt a baby from an orphanage. The child she found was a newborn black baby girl abandoned outside a primary school, with no identification and no information about her parents. Safiyyah took her home, named her Fahimah, and raised her with the love of a mother. But Uwais never accepted the little girl. Fifteen years later, the consequences of that decision are still shaping the lives of everyone under Safiyyah's roof.

Genre

FAHIMAH is primarily a family drama and emotional romance with elements of mystery, psychological conflict, domestic tension, and suspense. The story does not depend solely on romance to keep the reader engaged. Its strongest appeal comes from the complicated relationships between people who live under the same roof but carry completely different versions of the truth.

The novel combines emotional storytelling with questions about identity, belonging, resentment, adoption, family responsibility, and the consequences of secrets kept for too long. Romance enters the story through Uwais and Amrah, while Fahimah's emotional struggle creates another layer of tension that makes the family situation increasingly complicated.

Setting

The story is deeply rooted in northern Nigeria, particularly Kano. The opening scenes take place in Yankaba, where Hajiya Safiyyah lives with Uwais and Fahimah. Her home reflects the family's financial comfort and social standing, while the characters' daily lives move between school, home, offices, family houses, and other parts of Kano.

Important scenes also take place around Yan Dutse College, Bank Road, GT Bank, Eastern Bypass, Bompai, and other recognizable urban environments. Abuja and Malaysia also become important to the wider story because of Amrah's medical education and the family's connections beyond Kano.

The setting gives the novel a strong northern Nigerian atmosphere while allowing the story to explore educated, financially successful Muslim families whose lives combine tradition, religion, education, professional ambition, and complicated family expectations.

Core Themes

Identity and Belonging

Fahimah's greatest unanswered question is simple but powerful: where did she come from? She has been loved by Safiyyah, but she knows that something about her origins has never been explained. Her different appearance from the woman who raised her constantly reminds her that there is a missing piece in her history.

The novel explores whether being born into a family is what truly makes someone family, or whether love, sacrifice, protection, and years of shared life can create a bond just as powerful as blood.

The Meaning of Family

Safiyyah's relationship with Fahimah challenges the conventional definition of motherhood. She did not give birth to Fahimah, yet she raises her, protects her, educates her, and loves her as her own child. To Fahimah, that love is real enough to silence many of the questions she has about her biological parents.

At the same time, Uwais represents the opposite perspective. He believes blood and origin matter, and his inability to accept Fahimah creates years of emotional conflict.

Resentment and Jealousy

Uwais's hatred toward Fahimah is not presented as a simple dislike. His attachment to his mother has become so intense that he sees Fahimah's place beside her as something threatening. His jealousy begins in childhood and grows into a deeply rooted resentment.

The story therefore examines how an emotion that begins as childhood insecurity can develop into a destructive force when it is never confronted.

Forbidden and Complicated Feelings

Fahimah's feelings toward Uwais become one of the most emotionally difficult aspects of the story. She cannot easily understand them, explain them, or share them with anyone. The person who occupies her thoughts is also the person who continually reminds her that he does not want her.

Her struggle is not simply about unrequited affection. It is about trying to understand herself while living inside a relationship where the boundaries of family, affection, resentment, and emotional attachment have become painfully complicated.

Secrets and the Past

Safiyyah's decision to keep Fahimah's origins private protects the girl from painful questions, but secrets rarely remain harmless forever. The circumstances surrounding Fahimah's arrival at the orphanage, her unknown parents, and Safiyyah's decision to adopt her form one of the central mysteries of the novel.

The deeper the story moves into the past, the more the reader begins to understand that the present conflict did not begin eighteen years ago. Its roots reach much further back.

Sacrifice and Motherhood

Safiyyah's life is shaped by sacrifice. She loses her husband, loses the possibility of having another biological child, raises Uwais alone, builds a career, and later takes responsibility for a child who had been abandoned.

Her decision to adopt Fahimah is not portrayed merely as an act of charity. It becomes one of the defining decisions of her life, affecting both children in completely different ways.

Key Characters

Fahimah Shagari

Fahimah is an eighteen-year-old final-year secondary school student who has grown into a quiet, obedient, naturally beautiful young woman. She is academically focused, particularly interested in Food and Nutrition, and deeply attached to Hajiya Safiyyah.

Despite being raised in comfort, Fahimah carries an invisible wound. She knows she was not born to Safiyyah, but she does not know the circumstances of her birth. She has accepted the woman who raised her as her mother because Safiyyah has never allowed her to feel unloved.

Her greatest emotional conflict begins with Uwais. For years, she has endured his harsh treatment without understanding why he hates her. Yet beneath the pain is an attachment she herself struggles to define. Fahimah's journey is therefore not simply about discovering her origins. It is also about discovering herself.

Uwais Abdulkarim Shagari

Uwais is Safiyyah's only biological son and a successful banker who has risen to become a GT Bank branch manager. He is highly educated, ambitious, disciplined, confident, and accustomed to being respected.

However, beneath his polished public image lies a complicated emotional world. Uwais is intensely attached to his mother and has never accepted Fahimah as a genuine member of the family. His treatment of her is cold and sometimes deliberately cruel.

Yet his relationship with Amrah reveals that Uwais is capable of tenderness, commitment, patience, and deep romantic affection. This contrast raises an important question: why can he give another woman the affection he has always denied Fahimah?

Hajiya Safiyyah Basudaniyyah

Safiyyah is the emotional center of the household. She is an accomplished academic, an Associate Professor in Economics, and a woman whose life has been shaped by loss and responsibility.

After losing her husband and the ability to have more children, she adopts Fahimah from an orphanage and raises her with extraordinary love. She knows the truth about Fahimah's origins, but she chooses to protect the girl from the pain of knowing too much.

Her greatest difficulty is Uwais. She loves her son deeply, but she also loves Fahimah as her daughter. Watching one child hurt another places her in an impossible position.

Amrah

Amrah is a young medical student studying abroad in Malaysia. She is intelligent, well brought up, modest, and deeply connected to her family.

Her meeting with Uwais changes the direction of his life. He becomes serious about marriage and approaches her father properly, promising that her education will remain a priority. Their relationship brings out Uwais's romantic side and becomes an important contrast to the emotional hostility that defines his relationship with Fahimah.

Alhaji Umar Dikko

Alhaji Umar Dikko is Amrah's father. He is protective, observant, and unwilling to give his daughter's future away without asking serious questions.

Before granting Uwais permission to seek Amrah's hand, he questions him about his family, education, career, background, and ability to wait for Amrah to complete her studies. His approval is conditional and demonstrates that he values both his daughter's education and her future security.

Jabir Dikko

Jabir is Uwais's old university friend and Amrah's brother. He provides an important bridge between Uwais and Amrah's family. His humorous and relaxed personality also provides a contrast to Uwais's serious temperament.

Jabir quickly realizes that Uwais's interest in Amrah is not another casual relationship. He therefore becomes instrumental in helping his friend approach the family properly.

Murjanatu

Murjanatu is Jabir's wife and a working professional. She is welcoming and supportive when Uwais begins visiting their home. Her household becomes the setting where Uwais first encounters Amrah, unknowingly stepping into a relationship that will transform his emotional world.

Talatu

Talatu is the family's trusted domestic worker who has been with Safiyyah since Uwais was young. She is familiar with the household's history and is particularly close to Safiyyah and Fahimah. Her presence adds warmth and continuity to the family environment.

The Central Conflict

At the heart of FAHIMAH is a family living under the same roof while carrying secrets that have never been fully confronted.

Fahimah wants to understand why she is different. Uwais wants her out of the emotional space he believes belongs exclusively to his mother. Safiyyah wants to protect both children while preserving the family she has built. And while all of this is happening, Fahimah's heart is quietly moving toward the one person she should never have allowed herself to love.

The situation becomes even more complicated when Uwais finds the woman he genuinely wants to marry.

What happens when the person you love sees you as nothing more than an unwanted sister?

What happens when the woman who raised you knows a truth about your birth that could change everything?

And what happens when a family secret that has been protected for eighteen years finally demands to be revealed?

Analytics and Insight

The strongest feature of FAHIMAH is its emotional contradiction. The novel places affection and rejection inside the same household and allows the reader to experience the story from several emotional angles. Safiyyah sees Fahimah as a daughter. Fahimah sees Safiyyah as her mother. Uwais sees Fahimah as an unwanted stranger. Fahimah, however, sees Uwais through feelings he cannot possibly understand because he does not know what is happening inside her heart.

This creates a particularly strong source of suspense because the reader knows more than Fahimah in some areas while knowing less than the characters in others. The circumstances surrounding her adoption create the mystery, while Uwais's unexplained hatred creates the emotional question.

Another important strength is the contrast between Uwais's two sides. In public, he is respected, successful, controlled, and professional. Around Amrah, he becomes affectionate, vulnerable, playful, and openly romantic. Around Fahimah, however, his personality changes completely. That contrast forces the reader to question what happened in his past to make him draw such a hard emotional boundary around Fahimah.

Safiyyah is equally important to the novel's emotional structure. She is caught between a biological son who refuses to accept her adopted daughter and a daughter whose entire sense of security depends on her. Her silence about Fahimah's origins may have been motivated by love, but the story invites the reader to consider whether protecting someone from the truth can eventually become another form of danger.

The novel also explores the difference between biological connection and emotional family. Fahimah was abandoned as a newborn and had no knowledge of her biological parents, yet she grows up surrounded by education, security, affection, and opportunity. Her identity therefore becomes a question much larger than blood. The story asks what truly makes a parent and what makes a family.

Why Readers Will Want to Read It

Readers who enjoy emotional Hausa family novels with complicated relationships, hidden identities, strong parental figures, romantic tension, and long-buried secrets will find FAHIMAH particularly engaging.

The novel does not present its conflicts all at once. Instead, it gradually reveals why the characters behave the way they do. Fahimah's unanswered questions, Uwais's hostility, Safiyyah's silence, and the mystery of the abandoned baby all work together to create a story in which the past constantly interferes with the present.

Most importantly, the story leaves the reader with questions that demand answers.

Why does Uwais hate Fahimah so deeply?

What is the real story behind Fahimah's birth?

Why did Safiyyah keep her origins secret?

Can Fahimah ever escape the feelings she has developed for Uwais?

What will happen when the truth about her identity can no longer remain hidden?

And if the secret finally comes out, will the family survive what it reveals?

An Original Thematic Quote

“Some families are created by blood, but some are built by the love of a woman who chooses to call an abandoned child her own.”

Final Impression

FAHIMAH is a story about a girl who grows up believing that love can make her forget where she came from, only to discover that the past has a way of demanding its place in the present.

It is a story of a mother who gives everything to two children, a son whose resentment has been growing since childhood, a daughter searching for an identity she was never allowed to know, and a heart that chooses a love it was never supposed to discover.

Behind the comfortable home in Yankaba lies a history of loss, adoption, jealousy, silence, and unanswered questions. As Fahimah approaches adulthood, the emotional walls surrounding her begin to crack.

And somewhere behind those walls is the truth.

A truth that may determine whether Fahimah finally discovers where she belongs, or whether the family she has always called home will become the very place where her greatest heartbreak begins.