Sawdah bint Zam'ah: Wives of the Prophet ﷺ

Tribe: Quraysh (Banu Amir ibn Lu'ayy)
Married: About the 10th year of the mission (c. 620 CE), in Makkah
Before this marriage: Widow of al-Sakran ibn Amr, according to the sirah books
Children with the Prophet ﷺ: None
Died: Reports differ: about 54 AH (c. 674 CE), while some say near the end of Umar's caliphate
Buried: Al-Baqi', Madinah

Sawdah bint Zam'ah of Quraysh accepted Islam early in Makkah. The sirah books record that she migrated to Abyssinia with her husband al-Sakran ibn Amr, who died after their return. The Prophet ﷺ married her after the death of Khadijah, and she looked after his household in Makkah during a time of great hardship, before the Hijrah.

Sawdah was a tall, heavily built woman. Aisha reported that after the verse of the hijab was revealed she went out to answer a need, and Umar recognised her and said that she could not be hidden from them. She returned to the Prophet ﷺ and told him; revelation came to him, and he said that the women had been permitted to go out for their needs (Sahih al-Bukhari 4795).

As she grew older she feared that the Prophet ﷺ might part from her, so she gave her day to Aisha, and he accepted it (Sunan Abi Dawud 2135). From then on he gave Aisha two days, her own and Sawdah's (Sahih al-Bukhari 5212). Aisha said the verse about a wife who fears her husband's neglect, Quran 4:128, was understood to refer to a case like Sawdah's.

Aisha said she had never seen a woman she would rather have been in place of than Sawdah bint Zam'ah, a woman with some sharpness of temper (Sahih Muslim 1463a). Her act is remembered as a model of generosity and of settling a marriage with goodwill. She remained a Mother of the Believers until her death in Madinah; reports differ on the year.