Kamil Ahmad – The Lives of the Sahabiyyat 04 Sawdah bint Zamah (ra)
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In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most
Merciful.
All praise is due to Allah, Lord of
the worlds.
And peace and blessings be upon the best
of Allah's creation, and upon his family, his
companions, and those who are guided by his
guidance, and those who wait by his Sunnah
until the Day of Judgment.
O Allah, teach us what will benefit us,
and benefit us with what You have taught
us, and increase us in knowledge, and show
us the truth as it is, and grant
us to follow it, and show us the
falsehood as it is, and grant us to
avoid it.
And make us of those who listen to
the word, and follow the best of it.
And after this, peace and blessings be upon
you.
Last week we finished going over the biography
of the mother of the believers, Aisha bint
Abi Bakr, may Allah be pleased with her.
And before that, we went through the life
of Khadijah, may Allah be pleased with her.
The two most important women in the life
of the Prophet ﷺ.
Today we move on to another of the
Ummahatul Mu'mineen.
And she is basically the
wife of the Prophet ﷺ, who Rasulullah ﷺ
married or lived with after Khadijah, may Allah
be pleased with her.
And so she is Saudah bint Zam'a,
may Allah be pleased with her.
So she is Saudah bint Zam'a ibn
Qais al-Amiriya al-Qurashiya.
And she is the first woman who Rasulullah
ﷺ consummated his marriage with after Khadijah, may
Allah be pleased with her.
Then the question is, what about Aisha, may
Allah be pleased with her?
When we spoke about Aisha, didn't we mention
that she was the next wife of the
Prophet ﷺ?
So how do we understand this?
Anyone?
How is it that both of these women
were the first ones that the Prophet ﷺ
married after Khadijah, may Allah be pleased with
her?
Basically, Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her,
was the first one whom the Prophet ﷺ
married after Khadijah, in terms of entering into
a marriage agreement, a Nikah.
But as we know, at the time, how
old was she?
She was six, right?
The Prophet ﷺ did not consummate that marriage
until many years later, when she was nine.
As for Saudah, may Allah be pleased with
her, who we're going to talk about today,
then the Prophet ﷺ married her after Khadijah,
and he consummated that marriage, he lived with
her.
Saudah bint Zam'a, may Allah be pleased
with her, was born in Mecca, and she
came from a prominent family of Quraysh.
And she was married to one of her
cousins, As-Sakran ibn Amr.
She was married to As-Sakran ibn Amr
when the Prophet ﷺ started preaching Islam.
So both she and her husband accepted Islam
early on.
They were from among the first Muslims.
Now due to the persecution that the early
Muslims were facing in Mecca, she left with
her husband and her children for Al-Habasha,
for Abyssinia, with the second wave of the
Muhajirun.
So there were two groups that had left
for Abyssinia, and she left with the second.
The second group had 83 men and 19
women.
So Saudah and her husband, they had left
for Abyssinia.
Now Abdullah ibn Abbas, he narrates, he says
Saudah bint Zam'a was married to As
-Sakran ibn Amr, the brother of Suhail ibn
Amr.
She once had a dream in which she
saw the Prophet ﷺ walking towards her until
he placed his foot on her neck.
She told her husband about the dream and
he responded by saying, By Allah, if your
dream is true, I will definitely die and
Rasool Allah ﷺ will end up marrying you.
So her husband interpreted that dream for her
in this way.
When she heard this, she said, no, that
can't be true.
She said that cannot be true.
Then on another night, Saudah had a dream
in which a moon had fallen from the
sky while she was lying down.
It fell on her, the moon.
So she told her husband about the dream
and he said, By Allah, if your dream
is true, I'm not going to remain alive
that much longer and you will soon marry
someone after me.
So from that day, her husband fell ill
and it wasn't long before he passed away.
Now one narration mentions that he passed away
while he was there in Abyssinia while another
says that they had come back to Mecca
and he passed away shortly after that.
Either way, Saudah was now a widow.
She was without a husband and she had
children and now it was the 10th year
of the Prophethood.
It was the 10th year of the Prophethood.
And in this 10th year, we mentioned previously
when we spoke about Khadijah it was in
this year that she passed away.
Khadijah passed away in the 10th year of
the Prophethood.
And so this was a very difficult time
for Rasool Allah ﷺ.
But as time passed, he needed to have
a partner because he was all by himself.
Not just without a wife but also most
of his children, as we know he had
daughters and most of them were all married
off, pretty much all of them were all
married off.
They had their own homes and here the
Prophet ﷺ was all by himself.
And so he needed to have a wife,
someone with him in his life.
So Khawla bint Hakim, Khawla bint Hakim, she
was a noble companion.
She was the wife of a noble companion,
Uthman ibn Madh'un.
Not Uthman ibn Affan, the famous Khalifa, but
Uthman ibn Madh'un.
His wife Khawla bint Hakim and both of
them had spent time in Abyssinia as well.
So Khawla here, we could say she was
a friend of Saudah.
They had spent time together in Abyssinia.
So Khawla comes to the Prophet ﷺ after
the death of Khadijah and she says, O
Messenger of Allah, will you not get married?
So he asked, who should I marry?
Who do you have in mind?
So she said, if you wish you can
get married to a virgin or if you
wish you can get married to a woman
who was previously married, a tayyib.
So he asked, who do you have in
mind?
Who is the virgin who you have in
mind?
And she said, the daughter of the most
beloved man to you, Aisha bint Abi Bakr.
And then he asked, how about the tayyib,
the woman who was previously married?
She said, Saudah bint Zam'ah.
And she added, she believed in you and
she followed you.
When you started your mission, when you started
your da'wah, she was one of the
first to believe in you and she followed
you.
So the Prophet ﷺ said to her, then
go and propose to both of them.
Go and propose to both of them.
So Khawla, she then went first to the
home of Abu Bakr and proposed for Aisha.
And we previously mentioned the story of the
Prophet ﷺ marrying Aisha.
So this is how Aisha was the first
to get married to the Prophet ﷺ after
Khadija.
Because Khawla first went to the home of
Aisha.
She spoke to Abu Bakr and he agreed.
And the Prophet ﷺ went and married Aisha
in terms of the nikah.
Then Khawla, she went to her friend Saudah.
And she goes to her house and she
finds her and she says, I give you
the glad tidings of good and blessings that
is going to come in your life.
So Saudah asked, what is that?
She said, Rasool Allah ﷺ has sent me
to propose to you for him.
So what was her reaction?
She said, I wish.
You've truly brought me good news and I
would love to accept this.
But then she said, go to my father
and mention it to him.
Go to my father and mention it to
him.
And so here we can see that even
in those early days of Islam, we have
this custom of a woman going through her
wali to get married and getting the approval
of her father.
And her father was a very old man
and at the time he was not even
Muslim.
He was not even Muslim.
So now Khawla, she goes to the father
of Saudah, Zam'a.
His name was Zam'a.
And she says, Muhammad ibn Abdullah has sent
me to propose for your daughter Saudah.
What was his reaction?
He said, what a noble match.
What a great match that is.
Even though he was not a Muslim.
But he recognized the virtue of Rasool Allah
ﷺ.
The Prophet ﷺ was from among the noble
men of his people.
And he was known for his noble character
and everything before his Islam.
Before he brought Islam, before he started preaching
Islam.
And even after he would preach Islam and
even after all the opposition from his people
and the enmity and everything they did to
him, but yet they still recognized his virtue
and how special he was.
Then he asked, the father of Saudah asked
Khawla.
He said, what does your friend think?
Meaning, what does Saudah think about this?
Khawla said, she agrees.
She's happy with it.
So he asked Khawla to go and call
her.
When she came, he said to her, he
said to his daughter, Muhammad ibn Abdullah has
sent for proposing you in marriage.
And he is a noble match.
Shall I marry you to him?
She said, yes.
So then he said to Khawla, go and
call Muhammad so we can conclude this marriage.
And so Rasulullah ﷺ came.
And that was how the marriage was conducted
with Saudah bint Zam'ah.
And this was in Ramadan of the 10th
year of the Prophethood.
Ramadan of the 10th year of the Prophethood.
Now another narration of the story mentions that
initially Saudah was hesitant to accept the offer.
And this was because she already had five
children.
And she was afraid that her children would
disturb the Prophet ﷺ.
She thought that it would be a burden
on him.
And he has an important mission that he
needs to fulfill.
And I'll be a burden on him with
my children.
So she mentioned this to the Prophet ﷺ.
And the Prophet ﷺ, he said to her,
trying to convince her that that's not a
big deal.
He said to her, the best women ever
to have ridden the backs of camels are
the virtuous women of Quraysh.
Who are the most affectionate towards small children.
And the most excellent in doing good deeds
to their husbands when they are wealthy.
So here the Prophet ﷺ was basically saying
that you are a woman from Quraysh.
And the women of Quraysh are known for
fulfilling the rights of their husbands as well
as their children.
Now Saudah she had two brothers.
One of them had become a Muslim and
also migrated with them.
And the other had not become a Muslim
initially.
His name was Abd ibn Zam'a.
And at the time of the marriage, he
was, he had still not accepted Islam.
And he heard about this marriage.
And so he became furious.
He was not happy.
And he started throwing dust on his head.
To show his frustration.
So later on he became Muslim.
And he would say, I was foolish the
day I threw dust on my head.
For the Prophet ﷺ marrying Saudah.
And so he was expressing regret for having
objected to this marriage.
Which in reality should have been an honor
for him.
Here is Muhammad ﷺ marrying my sister.
That should be an honor for me.
But obviously, because he was a kafir.
And he had enmity for the Muslims and
for the Prophet ﷺ.
He reacted that way initially.
But then later, when he became a Muslim,
he regretted what he had done.
Now the age of Saudah r.a at
the time of the marriage was around 55.
While Rasool Allah ﷺ was how old?
How old was he?
We're talking about 10 years of being a
Prophet.
How old would he be?
I couldn't hear that.
50, yes.
So the Prophet ﷺ was around 50 years
old.
While Saudah was around 55.
And the Prophet ﷺ consummated the marriage with
her.
Immediately.
And lived with her in Mecca.
With her five children.
Until the hijrah to Medina.
So she was the only wife of the
Prophet ﷺ in Mecca.
After Khadija r.a. Who the Prophet ﷺ
spent time with.
And then when it came time for the
hijrah to Medina.
The Prophet ﷺ ordered Zayd ibn Harithah and
Abu Rafi' al-Ansari.
To take his family to Medina.
As we know, the Prophet ﷺ made his
way to Medina after all the Muslims had
left.
And he left on his own with Abu
Bakr r.a. So he gave instructions to
these two companions to take his family.
And so they took Saudah with her children.
And Fatima and Umm Kulthum.
The two daughters of the Prophet ﷺ.
And Umm Ayman.
And we're going to come to talk later
on about Umm Ayman.
Who she was.
And Usama ibn Zayd.
Usama ibn Zayd.
So this was the household of the Prophet
ﷺ in Mecca.
At the time of the hijrah.
And so after the hijrah.
For about a year in Medina.
Again she was by herself with the Prophet
ﷺ.
And then it was in the second year
of the hijrah.
That the Prophet ﷺ consummated his marriage with
Aisha r.a. And then after that.
The other wives over the years started to
come into his life.
Now Saudah r.a. was a very special
woman.
Even though we don't hear much about her.
However among her virtues.
Among her special unique characteristics.
Was that she was known for having a
humorous nature.
She would bring happiness to Rasul Allah ﷺ.
And make him smile and make him to
laugh.
We have to understand when she came into
the life of the Prophet ﷺ.
At a time when he was down.
That 10th year of the Prophethood was known
as Aam al-Huzn.
The year of grief.
You had his wife, his beloved wife Khadija
who passed away.
The mother of all of his daughters.
And his support from the beginning of the
Prophethood.
She passed away.
And that was shortly after his uncle Abu
Talib.
Who was also a big support for him.
He had also passed away.
And in that same year.
When the Prophet ﷺ had almost given up
on the people of Mecca.
He said let me go elsewhere.
Maybe I can find followers elsewhere.
So he went to Ta'if.
Which was close to Mecca.
And he was driven out of that city.
He was driven out of Ta'if by
the people there.
So it was a very very bad year
for him.
So now you have this woman Saudah who
comes into his life.
And she had that very jolly nature.
Where she would like to bring happiness to
the Prophet ﷺ.
Make him smile, make him laugh.
And she would joke a lot with the
Prophet ﷺ.
But obviously when the Prophet ﷺ would joke.
Or when he would laugh.
It was within the guidelines that he has
taught us.
Not over excessively joking.
Not joking by making up stories or lying.
Also Aisha radiallahu anha tells us.
That I never saw the Messenger of Allah
laugh fully.
To such an extent that I could see
his tonsils.
Meaning he wouldn't open up his mouth laughing
in that sense.
But rather he would smile.
Or when he would be very happy.
You could see his teeth.
This is what has been mentioned by various
companions.
So an example of her humorous nature.
One night Rasool Allah ﷺ prayed Qiyamul Layl.
With Saudah praying behind him.
And as was the practice of the Prophet
ﷺ.
He would pray very long.
His Qiyamul Layl would be very long.
Once Abdullah ibn Mas'ud who was one
of the young companions.
And he was one of the early Muslims
as well.
He says he prayed Qiyam with the Prophet
ﷺ one night.
And it was so long that he says
he was about to give up.
And just sit down.
And leave the Prophet ﷺ standing by himself.
So anyways.
After the Prophet ﷺ finished the Salah.
Saudah said to him, O Messenger of Allah.
I prayed behind you tonight.
And your Ruku' was so long that I
had to hold on to my nose.
Because I was afraid that I was going
to bleed.
That my nose would bleed.
So she was just joking.
To let the Prophet ﷺ know.
That his Salah was very long.
It was too long for her.
And then the Prophet ﷺ smiled.
He smiled when he heard this.
And so this is a very very good
characteristic of a righteous wife.
That she jokes around with her husband from
time to time.
Bringing a happy, jolly atmosphere to the home.
And to the relationship.
Not always being serious or not complaining.
Notice how Saudah ﷺ, Although she was agitated
by how long the Prophet ﷺ prayed.
But she did not complain.
Right after Salah she didn't say, O Messenger
of Allah.
That was long.
That was too long for me.
She didn't complain.
Instead, she did it in a way that
brought a smile to his face.
And this is something we should learn from
these women.
The best of the women of this Ummah.
In another incident, The Prophet ﷺ was once
with both Saudah and Aisha.
And Aisha is the one who narrates this
story.
Aisha, she says, I brought a dish that
was known as Khazeera.
It was like a dish of porridge.
She says, I had prepared it for the
Prophet ﷺ.
So I had come and I saw Saudah
there.
And I said to Saudah, While the Prophet
ﷺ was sitting between me and her.
I said to Saudah, eat.
She refused.
So I said, you have to eat.
Otherwise, I'm going to smear your face with
it.
So she still refused.
Aisha says, So I put my hand in
the porridge.
And I smeared her face with it.
The Prophet ﷺ laughed.
And with his hand, He signaled for her,
for Saudah to do the same to me.
So Saudah, she took some of it, smeared
my face with it.
And the Prophet ﷺ laughed again.
Then guess who shows up.
Umar ibn al-Khattab.
He came, he passed by, and he was
calling out.
And when the Prophet ﷺ heard Umar, he
was afraid he would come in.
So he told the two of them, Get
up and wash your faces.
Get up and wash your faces.
Aisha says, Since that day, I have always
held a deep respect and awe for Umar
ibn al-Khattab.
Because of the respect and the awe that
Rasool Allah ﷺ had for him.
And so we see from this story that
Umar, As we know from his life, he
was a very serious man.
He was very straightforward.
And the Prophet ﷺ used to treat him
in that same manner.
But this story shows us the playful and
light-hearted moments between the Prophet ﷺ and
his wives.
And it reflects the affectionate and harmonious nature
of their relationships.
As well as the mutual respect that existed
between them.
There was also another story similar to this.
But here we have two of the wives
of the Prophet ﷺ.
Who knowing Saudah's nature, they also would take
opportunities to joke with her.
So on one occasion, it was Hafsa and
Aisha.
They came to her and they tried to
make her believe that the Dajjal had appeared.
That a Dajjal had emerged.
They came to her, to Saudah and said,
The Dajjal has come.
So Saudah, she was terrified by this.
She took it seriously.
And then she rushed to hide.
And she found there was like a room
or a house where they used to light
fires.
It was a dirty room.
And she went and she hid there.
So Hafsa and Aisha they laughed at her
reaction.
When the Prophet ﷺ came and saw them
laughing, He asked, what is the matter with
the two of you?
They told him about what happened with Saudah.
So the Prophet ﷺ went to Saudah.
And when she saw him, she asked, Oh
Messenger of Allah, has the Dajjal emerged?
He replied, no, he has not.
But he is coming soon.
And this is what the Prophet ﷺ has
taught us.
That the Dajjal is coming very very soon.
And we shouldn't think that the Dajjal is
very far off.
But he is coming very soon.
Anyways, once she was reassured, Saudah she came
out from the place she was hiding.
And she brushed off spider webs.
So this was like a dirty room.
It was a place where they used to
light fires.
An abandoned room or house.
And she was brushing off spider webs from
herself.
So this is what Saudah was known for.
She was also known for her generosity.
One day in the time of Umar ibn
Khattab when he was a Khalifa.
He sent a bunch of Dirhams.
And Dirhams are basically gold coins.
He sent them to Saudah.
And he would do this after the death
of the Prophet ﷺ.
Him being the head of the state.
He used to take good care of the
wives of the Prophet ﷺ.
Making sure they had what they needed, etc.
So he sent a bunch of Dirhams for
Saudah.
She asked, what is this?
She was told that these are Dirhams that
have been sent for her from Umar.
She took them and she distributed all of
them to the poor and the needy.
And she didn't keep anything for herself.
But what is interesting about Saudah is that
she was not only generous with her wealth.
But she was also generous with something else.
And that was her marital rights.
And we spoke about this last week.
When we spoke about Aisha.
While the Prophet ﷺ was in Mecca, we
said that Saudah was his only wife.
But after the Hijrah, the Prophet ﷺ started
marrying other women.
And some of these women were younger and
more beautiful than she was.
And Saudah she was described as being tall.
And having a large figure.
So now she was afraid that perhaps the
Prophet ﷺ would no longer be interested in
her.
And would perhaps divorce her.
So she came to the Prophet ﷺ and
said, O Messenger of Allah, I give up
my night for Aisha.
I give up my night for Aisha.
As we know, Islam teaches us that we
have to equally distribute the time.
That the man, if he has more than
one wife, he has to equally distribute the
time that he spends with them.
And basically each wife had a night.
And Saudah came here and she gave up
what exclusively belonged to her.
To Aisha because she knew how much the
Prophet ﷺ loved Aisha.
And so she did it for two reasons.
Number one, to make the Prophet ﷺ happy
and pleased.
And so she didn't give up her day
to just any of his other wives.
But specifically to the most beloved, to him.
Why?
Because she wants him to be happy.
And number two, she did it in order
to be with Rasool Allah ﷺ in the
Akhirah.
And so she sacrificed her right out of
fear that Rasool Allah ﷺ would divorce her.
And then she would come on the Day
of Judgment without the Prophet ﷺ as her
husband.
So she would rather give up her right
of one night for an eternity with the
Prophet ﷺ.
In exchange for living forever with the Prophet
ﷺ in Jannah.
And so this shows us the level of
her Iman and her preference of the Akhirah
over the Dunya.
Her preference of the Akhirah over the Dunya.
If it was one of us, we would
never do such a thing.
Because most of us, we are attached more
to the Dunya than the Akhirah.
And we don't want to let go what
we have in the Dunya.
But again, this is a huge lesson we
should learn from the life of Saudah.
And this is what we notice among all
of the companions of the Prophet ﷺ, male
or female.
We find this quality among pretty much all
of them.
How they were willing to sacrifice what they
had in the Dunya for what is with
Allah in the Akhirah.
According to a narration by Ibn Abbas, he
says that Saudah feared that the Prophet ﷺ
might divorce her.
So she approached him and said, O Messenger
of Allah, do not divorce me and give
my day to Aisha.
The Prophet ﷺ accepted her request and did
so.
Then the following verse was revealed.
The following verse from Surah An-Nisa was
revealed.
وَإِنِ امْرَأَةٌ خَافَتْ مِن بَعْلِهَا نُشُوزًا أَوْ إِعْرَاضًا
فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْهِمَا أَن يُصْلِحَ بَيْنَهُمَا صُلْحًا وَصُلْحُ
خَيْرًا This is verse 128 of Surah An
-Nisa.
Allah ﷻ says if a woman fears indifference
or neglect from her husband, she's afraid that
her husband is no longer interested in her,
Allah says there is no blame on either
of them to seek a fair settlement, sulh.
And Allah says seeking a settlement is best.
To reconcile, to come to an agreement is
better than a divorce, right?
So Ibn Abbas is saying that this is
why this ayah was revealed.
This is why this ayah was revealed, talking
about Saudah ﷺ and what she did.
In one narration, it mentions that the Prophet
ﷺ did actually divorce her.
So she came to him and said, O
Messenger of Allah, I have no interest in
men.
Meaning, if the reason you divorce me is
because you fear that you are not fulfilling
my desire for intimacy, and that there are
other men who can fulfill that, and that's
why you're divorcing me so that some other
man can marry me, then I am telling
you that I have no interest in that.
Then she said, but rather I want to
be resurrected among your wives on the Day
of Judgment.
So she was saying to the Prophet ﷺ
that if you're not interested in me, then
at least keep me as your wife.
And I'm willing to give up my night,
my day with you.
But as long as I can remain your
wife so that I could be your wife
in the Akhirah.
And then she said, so I ask you
by the one who revealed the book to
you, did you divorce me because I did
something you didn't like?
He said, no.
She said, then I ask you by Allah
to take me back.
So Rasulullah ﷺ took her back, and then
she said that she would give up her
day to Aisha radiallahu anha.
Now another verse that is said to have
been revealed regarding Saudah radiallahu anha is a
very very important ayah in the Qur'an,
and that is the ayah of Hijab, the
verse commanding the Hijab.
In Sahih al-Bukhari, Aisha radiallahu anha narrates,
she says the wives of the Prophet ﷺ
used to go to an open place near
Baqi' the graveyard Baqi' to answer the call
of nature at night.
So they did not have washrooms and toilets,
and the women would go in groups in
the evening when it's dark to an open
area outside the city.
So Umar, Aisha says Umar radiallahu anha used
to say to the Prophet ﷺ, cover your
wives, let them be veiled, let them to
cover themselves.
So until now, the women were not required
to wear the Hijab.
And Umar radiallahu anha, he wanted that.
He wanted that at least the wives of
the Prophet ﷺ should be covered.
Look at how much he cared for the
wives of the Prophet ﷺ, that he doesn't
want other men to be looking at them,
etc.
So what was the response of the Prophet
ﷺ?
He said no.
He didn't command his women to do so.
So one night, Saudah bint Zam'a, she
went out in the evening, it was around
Aisha time, and Aisha says she was a
tall woman, she was a tall woman.
So Umar saw her, Umar radiallahu anha saw
her, and he said to her, Oh Saudah,
I have recognized you.
Oh Saudah, I know who you are.
Because it's dark, it's night time, but because
of her figure, she was easily recognized by
Umar radiallahu anha.
And why did he say this?
He said this because he was hoping that
ayat of Hijab would be revealed.
He wanted this to reach the Prophet ﷺ.
That, you know, I have recognized Saudah.
That's why he said that.
And guess what?
Aisha radiallahu anha says, So Allah ﷻ revealed
the ayat of Hijab soon after that.
Allah ﷻ says in Surah al-Ahzab, and
this is verse 59, يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ قُلْ
لِأَزْوَاجِكَ وَبَنَاتِكَ وَنِسَاءِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ يُدْنِينَ عَلَيْهِنَّ مِنْ
جَلَابِي بِهِنَّ ذَلِكَ أَدْنَى أَن يُعْرَفْنَ فَلَا يُؤْذَيْنَ
O Prophet, tell your wives and your daughters
and the believing women that they should cover
themselves with jilbabs.
That is better for them so that they
are not recognized and thus they are not
harmed.
And by the way, this is one of
the many times that the opinion of Umar
radiallahu anhu would be backed by revelation from
Allah.
This was not the first time.
There are many other examples of how Umar
radiallahu anhu would have a certain opinion in
a certain matter and the Prophet ﷺ would
disagree and then Allah would send an ayah
supporting the opinion of Umar radiallahu anhu.
And this is one example of that.
And that's why the Prophet ﷺ said that
if there was to be a prophet after
me, it would be Umar.
But as we know, there is no prophet
after Muhammad ﷺ.
Also among the virtues of Saudah radiallahu anha
is that she was present with Rasulallah ﷺ
in the battle of Khaybar.
And so it seems that it was
basically the Prophet ﷺ whenever he used to
go on a journey, as Aisha radiallahu anha
tells us, that whenever he would go on
a journey he would draw lots between his
wives.
So he wouldn't just always take, for example,
Aisha.
He would be fair, but obviously sometimes he
can't take all of his wives.
So he would do a draw and whoever's
name comes out, that's who would go with
him.
So it seems that Saudah radiallahu anha, she
was lucky to go with the Prophet ﷺ
on this journey to Khaybar.
And this particular battle brought in a lot
of wealth.
The Muslims were victorious and Khaybar was a
rich place.
So basically the Jews of Khaybar, they had
amassed wealth and they had their farms.
So the spoils from Khaybar became a huge
source of revenue for the Prophet ﷺ and
for the Muslims.
And prior to this, we know that the
Prophet ﷺ and the Sahaba, they lived in
poverty.
But now with the victory in Khaybar they
had become rich.
So since Saudah was present, the Prophet ﷺ
gave her a share of the spoils.
He gave her 80 wisq of dates and
20 wisq of wheat.
A wisq is a measurement that is estimated
to weigh about 130 kilograms.
So one wisq is supposed to be around
130 kilograms.
So he gave her 80 of those in
dates.
So 80 times 130 is more than 10
,000 kilograms of dates.
And 20 wisq of wheat, so something like
2,600 kilograms of wheat.
So obviously it was a huge amount.
And this is something that the Prophet ﷺ
gave to Saudah.
Now in the 10th year of the Hijrah,
two years before the Prophet ﷺ passed away,
or a year before the Prophet ﷺ passed
away, or even less than a year, the
Prophet ﷺ went on the farewell hajj.
The farewell hajj.
And he took his wives with him.
In Suheel Bukhari, Aisha radiallahu anha narrates, she
narrates that we got to Al-Muzdalifah.
So when you go for hajj, there is
the day of Arafah.
You spend time in the plains of Arafah.
And then once the sun sets on that
day, everyone makes their way to an open
area called Muzdalifah, which is not too far
from Mina.
And you're supposed to spend the night there,
at Muzdalifah.
And then the next morning, everyone basically moves
on to Mina, where they stone the pillars,
and then they go to Mecca for Tawaf.
The next day is basically, it is the
day of Eid for us, and it is
the most busiest day for the people who
go for hajj.
So Aisha says, we got down at Muzdalifah,
and Saudah came to the Prophet ﷺ and
asked permission to leave early, before the rush
of the people.
Meaning, she wanted to leave early onwards to
Mina, instead of spending the entire night in
Muzdalifah.
Aisha says, and she was a heavy and
slow woman, and so the Prophet ﷺ gave
her permission.
So she departed before the rush of the
people.
Aisha says, we stayed on in Muzdalifah until
Fajr, and then we prayed Fajr, and then
after that we set out with the Prophet
ﷺ.
She says, and I suffered so much that
I wish I had taken that permission of
Rasulullah ﷺ, as Saudah had done.
And that would have been more dearer to
me than any other joy.
So basically, here, Aisha is saying that she
regrets not having sought permission to leave early
with Saudah.
Because, as you know, I mean for those
who have gone for hajj, when everyone is
rushing at the same time, leaving Muzdalifah, it's
very busy.
And so, Saudah radiallahu anha, she was smart,
very intelligent, and she knew that she's very
slow, she's an elder woman, by now we
could say she's well in her 60s, and
so she had that privilege of leaving early.
And from this hadith, the scholars say that
although spending the night in Muzdalifah is mandatory,
it is okay for women, children, elderly, and
others who need to leave early, for them
to leave early.
Now due to how difficult this hajj was
for Saudah radiallahu anha, she did not leave
after that, to travel anywhere after returning to
Medina, or to perform another hajj.
She just stayed at home until she passed
away.
Unlike the other wives of the Prophet ﷺ,
except for Zaynab bint Jahsh.
So Saudah and Zaynab bint Jahsh, they never
made hajj after that.
The other wives, the four Khulafa after the
death of the Prophet ﷺ, they would take
the wives of the Prophet ﷺ for hajj,
and they would facilitate it for them after
the death of the Prophet ﷺ.
But Saudah says that after making hajj with
the Prophet ﷺ, that's it.
So basically she was saying it was a
very difficult hajj, and she is happy with
having made hajj with the Prophet ﷺ.
Saudah radiallahu anha, she went on to live
long after the death of the Prophet ﷺ.
However, unlike Aisha radiallahu anha, she did not
narrate that many ahadith.
So although she lived long after the death
of the Prophet ﷺ, people wouldn't come to
her for narrating ahadith like they would go
to Aisha.
We spoke about Aisha radiallahu anha last week,
and how she is among the top narrators
of hadith, having narrated so many ahadith, and
this is because she would devote her time
for that.
It is mentioned that Saudah radiallahu anha has
only narrated some five ahadith.
Only some five ahadith have been narrated by
Saudah.
Saudah radiallahu anha, she eventually passed away.
Some estimates mention that she passed away at
the end of the Khilafah of Umar ibn
Khattab radiallahu anha.
While others say that it was in the
time of Mu'awiyah when he was Khalifa,
and that is after Ali radiallahu anha, and
after Al-Hasan, and Allah knows best.
So this is the life of Saudah bint
Zam'a radiallahu anha, the mother of the
believers.
May Allah be pleased with her, and accept
her sacrifices, and grant her the highest level
in Jannah.
Insha'Allah next week we'll continue our series,
moving on to another very very important sahabiya,
and mother of the believers, and that is
Hafsa, the daughter of Umar ibn Khattab radiallahu
anha.
So we'll conclude here insha'Allah.