Sawda bint Zamʿa was a wife of the Islamic prophetMuhammad. There is disagreement as to when she was born. According to R. Bhala her age, when she married Mohammad, was around 50, which would narrow her birthday to around 570-580 CE. Ibn Sa'd puts her date of death to the year 674, though there are sources who claim that she died on the last year of Omar Ibn al-Khattab's reign, which would be 644.
Biography
Her father, Zam'a ibn Qays, was from the Amir ibn Luayy clan of the Quraysh tribe in Mecca. Her mother, Al-Shamus bint Qays, was from the Najjar clan of the Khazraj tribe in Madina. She married As-Sakran ibn Amr. They had one son, Abdur Rahman ibn Sakran, who was killed in the Battle of Jalula in 637 AD.
Sawda and As-Sakran emigrated to Abyssinia at the order of Muhammad. As-Sakran left Abyssinia by sea with Waqqas. They returned to Mecca, where As-Sakran died.
Marriage to Muhammad
Sawda bint Zam'a had been one of the first women to immigrate to Abyssinia in the way of Allah. Her husband had died. She was a tall and large dark skinned woman, with a jolly, kindly disposition, and just the right person to take care of Muhammad's household and family. So Muhammad gave permission to Khawla to speak to Sayyiduna Abu Bakr and to Sawda on the subject. Khawla went straight to Sawda and said, "Would you like Allah to give you great blessing, Sawda?" Sawda asked, "And what is that, Khawla?" She said, "The Messenger of Allah has sent me to you with a proposal of marriage!" Sawda tried to contain herself in spite of her utter astonishment and then replied in a trembling voice, "I would like that! Go to my father and tell him that." Khawla went to Zam'a, a gruff old man, and greeted him and then said, "Muhammad son of Abdullah son of Abdul Muttalib, has sent me to ask for Sawda in marriage." The old man shouted, "A noble match. What does she say?" Khawla replied, "She would like that." He told her to call her. When she came, he said, "Sawda, this woman claims that Muhammad son of Abdullah son of Abdul Muttalib has sent me to ask for you in marriage. It is a noble match. Do you want me to marry you to him?" She accepted, feeling it was a great honor. Muhammad married Sawda in Ramadan in the tenth year after his prophethood, a few months after the death of Khadija. According to Ibn Sa’d Sawda died in the year 54 after Hijra, If she lived to become an octogenarian she must have married Muhammad at the age of 27. If she reached the age of 90 then she could not have been older than 37 when she married the prophet who was 50 years old at that time. However there are sources that put her death in the year 644. Sawda went to live in Muhammad's house and immediately took over the care of his daughters and household, while Aisha bint Abu Bakr became betrothed to him and remained in her father's house. There was great surprise in Mecca that Muhammad would choose to marry a widow who wasn't beautiful according to society's standards. Muhammad, however, remembered the trials she had undergone when she had immigrated to Abyssinia, leaving her house and property, and crossed the desert and then the sea for an unknown land out of the desire to preserve her deen. It was after the Hijrah that the first community of Muslims rapidly grew and flowered and bore fruit. When she was older, Muhammad was worried that Sawda might be upset about having to compete with so many younger wives, and offered to divorce her. She said that she would give her night to Aisha, of whom she was very fond, because she only wanted to be his wife on the Day of Rising.
Later life, widowhood
After Muhammad's death, Sawda received a gift of money, which she spent on charity. Muawiyah I, the first caliph of the Umayyad dynasty, bought her house in Medina for 180,000 dirhams. She, Aisha, Hafsa, and Safiya always remained very close. She died in Medina in September or October 674.
