Sawda bint Zam'a
سَوْدَة بِنْت زَمْعَةSawdah bint Zamʿah
Biography
The second wife of the Prophet ﷺ, whom he married after the death of Khadījah bint Khuwaylid. She was already an elderly woman when the Prophet ﷺ married her, older than him in age, and the marriage was in part a gesture of care and protection for a Muslim widow who had lost her previous husband. She was from the Quraysh.
She accompanied the Prophet ﷺ to Madinah on the Hijrah. One of the first two houses built next to Masjid al-Nabawī was her house, directly adjacent to the Prophet's mosque on one side, while ʿĀʾishah's house was on the other side.
In a remarkable act of generosity and self-awareness, Sawdah gifted her nightly turn, the night the Prophet ﷺ was scheduled to stay with her, to ʿĀʾishah. She recognized that the Prophet ﷺ had a special affection for ʿĀʾishah, and she wanted to please him. This act meant that the Prophet ﷺ effectively had double the time with ʿĀʾishah, since ʿĀʾishah received both her own night and Sawdah's gifted night. The Prophet ﷺ would visit Sawdah during the day but not spend the night. Sawdah's house, while physically connected to the mosque, was therefore the house the Prophet ﷺ visited but did not regularly sleep in after this arrangement.
She outlived the Prophet ﷺ and died in Madinah.
Significance
Second wife of the Prophet after Khadijah; one of only two wives whose houses were built directly adjacent to Masjid al-Nabawi; gifted her nights to Aisha, demonstrating exceptional generosity and devotion to the Prophet's happiness