We don't know because her age is not recorded anywhere. But here are our clues.

(1) Tabari says that she died in Shawwal 54 (September/October 674). If Muhammad had been alive by that date (he wasn't, of course) he would have been 104 years old! So Sawda was probably younger than Muhammad.

(2)Muhammad considered divorcing Sawda "because she grew old". This probably means "because she reached menopause," and it was probably in early 627. So we know she was 45+ at that time.

There are problems with this information. Tabari has been wrong over details before. I once read that Sawda died twenty years earlier than this, but that was in an unreferenced tertiary source, so I shall ignore that evidence. Also, we don't really know the date when Muhammed began to divorce her: although early 627 was a time when divorcing Sawda would have been very convenient to him, you basically have to slap on a "plus or minus five years" to that date.

So my best guess is that Sawda was born in the early 580s and was probably close to forty when she married Muhammad in 620. This makes her well over ninety when she died, which is impressive but by no means impossible.
_______________________________________________________________

Sawda bint Zam'a, may Allah be pleased with her had been the first woman to immigrate to Abyssinia in the way of Allah. Her husband ha died and she was now living with her aged father. She was middle-aged, rather plump, with a jolly, kindly disposition, and just the right person to take care of the Prophet's household and family. So Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 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, ad 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. 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 playing with her dolls.

There was great surprise in Mecca that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) would choose to marry a widow who was neither young nor beautiful.
When she was older, the prophet was worried that Sawda might be upset about having to compete with the prophet 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. She lived on until the end of the time of Umar ibn al Khattab. She and Aisha always remained very close.
Sawda bint Zama: Sawda bint Zamʿa ibn Qayyis ibn ʿAbd Shams was a wife of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and considered by Muslims to be a Mother of the Believers.

Marriage with Muhammad between 0619 and June 8th, 0632 (13 years)
died in 0674 (1339 years ago)

Muhammad married her in Shawwal, in the tenth year of His Prophethood, a few days after the death of Khadijah. Prior to that, she was married to a paternal cousin of hers called As-Sakran bin ‘Amr. She was considered homely and was older than Muhammad.However, some claim that she can not be older than Muhammad, if she really died in October 674 as mentioned above. Since Muhammad was born in 570, that would mean that she has lived more than 104 years which is less likely in those days,

Resources

Top Categories

Product

Company