Lady Sawda bint Zam'a

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the first woman prophet muhammad (pbuh) married after the death of his first wife khdija bint khwailed, and at this time the verse of the hijab  (women way of clothing) was revealed.   

her name and descent

she is the mother of the beleivers  sawdah bint-zam’a bin qais bin abd wed ibn nasr bin malek bin hasal bin aamer bin loai alqurashia al ameria ,and her mother ash shummous bint qais bin zaid bin omar al ansariah.

her conversion to islam;

she was a sublime and noble lady, one of the virtuous women of her time. before her marriage to prophet muhammad (pbup), she was married to her cousin who was called as-sakran bin amr. when she converted to islam she took the oath of allegiance to prophet muhammad (pbuh) and her husband as-sakran became a muslim as well. they both migrated to abyssinia where she suffered tremendously travelling with him till he died and left her behind sad and recessive with no assistance or profession and her father who was an aged man.

 her marriage;

in a narration by aisha (may allah be pleased with her), reported by khawlah bint hakim alsalmiah- sawda’s companion in the migration to abyssinia-: “when prophet muhammad (pbuh)was looking for a wife to run the household and take care of fatima al-zahra'(his daughter), he was told to marry aisha, but he refused at that time because of her young age”. so khawla told him about sawda bint zam’a. she was a conscious middle aged lady, full of faith, even if her youth was gone and she was not much beautiful. khawla did not even finish her speech when prophet muhammad (pbuh) praised sawda and agreed to marry her.

 prophet muhammad( pbuh) married sawda bint zam’a  while she had six sons, and her marriage was in ramadan in the tenth year of prophet hood ,after the death of khadija- the mother of the believers - in mecca (it was said ;year eight  of al hijra  on a four hundred dirhams dowry), and migrated to al madina. 

her virtue;

sawda(may allah be pleased with her) is considered one of the virtuous of her time, she became a muslim and took an oath of allegiance to prophet muhammad(pbuh),she migrated to abyssinia, prophet muhammad (pbuh)married her and she was one of the most loved ones to his heart of  his wives, she was known for her righteousness and piety, she narrated a lot of the prophet’s sayings and a lot were narrated about her. the verse of “hijab” (literally "cover"; it describes the self-covering of the body for the purposes of modesty and dignity) was revealed in her time. one of her special features was her love of charity. 

her characteristics;

when the mother of the believers ‘aisha (may  allah be pleased with her) entered  prophet muhammad's(pbuh) house as a beloved wife filling the eyes with youthfulness, funniness and cleverness, sawda(may allah be pleased with her) wanted to abandon her post in the prophet's (pbuh) house in which she did not see except mercy and dignity for the sake of ‘aisha (may allah be pleased with her)  whose affection , preference and pride of her father made her closer to the prophet (pbuh),and that was a beautifulness that men adores .

prophet muhammad (pbuh) was pleased with ‘aisha's (may allah be pleased with her) company for her cheerfulness and youthfulness in his house, so sawda (may allah be pleased with her) got sulked and felt as being  a prisoner in her husband's house. prophet muhammad asked lady sawda one day if she wanted divorce, knowing that her only needs from marriage is protection and comfort, and she had this in the prophet’s house for she was living under the inviolability of the prophet and the blessing of allah the almighty.

as her feminine jealousness was at ease, sawda said: “messenger of allah; i have no keenness to be your wife like ‘aisha, so keep me just to live near you, to love whom you love and to be pleased for your happiness.

 sawda consolidated herself to tame her jealousy with piety, and to give her day which the prophet used to spend with her to ‘aisha.

   and after the prophet (pbuh)married hafsa bint omar (may allah be pleased with them) as a consolidation after her husband died and her age did not exceed eighteen, sawda’s life was at ease living with two other wives of the prophet, but she was closer to ‘ayisha, trying to satisfy her for her husband's  sake.

 sawda was of praise worthy ethics, a good woman that loves charity so much. ‘aisha talked about her and said:'' the wives of the prophet (pbuh) told the prophet one day:''o messenger of allah, which one of us will be the next to die to follow you? he (pbuh) said: ''the one of you with the longest hand''. after the prophet’s (pbuh) death we knew that the length of her hand was because of charity.

her works;

          sawda narrated five hadiths from the prophet’s.

abdullah bin abbas and yahya bin abdul rahman bin sa'din zarah al ansari reported from her.

abu dawood and al nasaie narrated from her.

her death;

sawda died at the end of omar bin al khattab’s khilapha .it is said that she died in al madinah al munawwara in shawwal year fifty four. ibn abbas performed “sujoud” when she died.

when he was asked for the reason, he said:'' prophet muhammad (pbuh) said: if you see a sign kneel.'' so what sign is greater than witnessing the death of the prophet’s wives………..