سَوْدَةُ بِنْتُ زَمْعَة
رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهَا
Sawdah bint Zam'ah
Married after Khadijah died · Emigrant to Abyssinia · Gave her turn to Aishah
may Allah be pleased with her
Quraysh — Banu Amir ibn Luayy · Makkah, Abyssinia and Madinah, into the decades after the Prophet's ﷺ death
She and her first husband were among the Muslims who emigrated to Abyssinia in the earliest years. After he died, and after Khadijah died, the Prophet ﷺ married her — for a time his only wife — and in her later years she gave up her turn with him to Aishah rather than be separated from the household.
Known for
She was the first woman the Prophet ﷺ married after Khadijah's death
For a period after the marriage — before his marriage to Aishah was consummated in Madinah — she was his only wife.
She and her first husband emigrated to Abyssinia among the early Muslims
Her husband was Sakran ibn Amr, of the same clan. They later returned to Makkah, and he died there before the Hijrah.
She was known for giving generously to those in need
The biographical dictionaries describe her as quick to give away what she had. A story of her distributing a specific gift of money among the poor in a single day is repeated at greater length in modern retellings than in the classical dictionaries themselves.
In her later years she gave up her turn with him to Aishah
Rather than be separated from the household, she asked to remain his wife and gave her turn to Aishah. He agreed, and Aishah received Sawdah's share of his time along with her own.
Story
Her story in moments
Short episodes from her life, in order. Read one at a time.
In full
Life & legacy
Before Madinah
Sawdah was of Banu Amir ibn Luayy, a clan of Quraysh. She was married to Sakran ibn Amr, of the same clan, and the two of them accepted Islam early and were among the Muslims who left for Abyssinia to escape the pressure in Makkah.
They later returned. Sakran died before the Hijrah — the reports differ on exactly when and where — leaving Sawdah widowed in Makkah in the same period that Khadijah died.
Marriage, and her later years
After Khadijah died, and after Sawdah's own husband had died, the Prophet ﷺ married her. For a time — before his marriage to Aishah was consummated in Madinah — she was his only wife.
She is remembered for what she did in her later years, set out in the moment below: rather than be separated from the household, she gave her turn with him to Aishah.
The sources do not agree on the year she died; the reports range widely, into the decades after the Prophet ﷺ died.
How the sources describe her
She is remembered in the biographical dictionaries as warm-natured and easy to be around
Connect
People around her
Family
- The Prophet Muhammad ﷺSpouse
He married her after Khadijah died and after her own first husband had died; she was his only wife for a time, and later gave her turn with him to Aishah.
Alongside
Sawdah gave her turn with the Prophet ﷺ to Aishah in her later years, and the two were among his wives together for many years.
Full timeline
- The Makkan years of persecution
Emigrates to Abyssinia with her husband
- The Makkan years, after Khadijah's death
Marries the Prophet ﷺ, after Khadijah's death
- Her later years, in Madinah
Gives her turn with him to Aishah
- The year is not agreed among the sources reports differReports place her death anywhere from the years soon after the Prophet ﷺ died to several decades later; none is settled enough to state.
Dies
Part of
Sources & review
Draft content — undergoing reviewThis content was written for SahabaMate and has not yet been checked by a reviewer against the works below. Treat it as a starting point, not a citation.
Sahih al-Bukhariصحيح البخاري
Hadith collection · Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Bukhari
As-Sirah an-Nabawiyyahالسيرة النبوية
Classical biography · Ibn Hisham, from the recension of Ibn Ishaq
Kitab at-Tabaqat al-Kabirالطبقات الكبرى
Classical biography · Ibn Sa'd
Al-Isabah fi Tamyiz as-Sahabahالإصابة في تمييز الصحابة
Classical biography · Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani
Siyar A'lam an-Nubalaسير أعلام النبلاء
Classical biography · Shams ad-Din adh-Dhahabi
Companions of the Prophet
Modern biography · Abdul Wahid Hamid
SahabaMate editorial summary
Editorial summary
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