NL member: Why did Muhammed divorce his wife Sawdah bint Zam'ah? I read some info on a certain site that said he divorced her because of her old age and because she was no longer attractive but I doubt that it is the truth considering the fact that Muhammed was a very upright man with exemplary character and could never send a wife away for such a superficial and shallow reason.
Therefore, I have come to present this question to the Muslims; why did prophet Muhammed (pbuh) divorce sawdah bint zam'ah?
This is a reference from Islamic sources about the matter;

The late Sunni scholar Ibn Kathir wrote on his Tafsir of Quran 4:128;
Making peace is better than seperation. An example of such peace can be felt in the story of Sawdah bint Zam'ah who when she became old and aged, the prophet wanted to divorce her, but she made peace with him by offering the night he used to spend with her to Aisha so that he would keep her.
The prophet accepted such terms and kept her.

Did prophet Muhammed divorce sawdah because of her old age? Thank you. May Allah reward you all for answering my question.

AbdH:
Is their an Islamic reference for this info? This is the first time I am seeing this.
Moreover, the first page on google that contains websites on Islam are anti-Islamic websites, hope you know that.

Allah states, and thus legislates accordingly, that sometimes, the man inclines away from his wife, sometimes towards her and sometimes he parts with her. In the first case, when the wife fears that her husband is steering away from her or deserting her, she is allowed to forfeit all or part of her rights, such as provisions, clothing, dwelling, and so forth, and the husband is allowed to accept such concessions from her. Hence, there is no harm if she offers such concessions, and if her husband accepts them. This is why Allah said,

﴿فَلاَ جُنَاْحَ عَلَيْهِمَآ أَن يُصْلِحَا بَيْنَهُمَا صُلْحاً﴾

(there is no sin on them both if they make terms of peace between themselves He then said,

﴿وَالصُّلْحُ خَيْرٌ﴾

(and making peace is better) than divorce. Allah's statement,

﴿وَأُحْضِرَتِ الأنفُسُ الشُّحَّ﴾

(And human souls are swayed by greed.) means, coming to peaceful terms, even when it involves forfeiting some rights, is better than parting. Abu Dawud At-Tayalisi recorded that Ibn `Abbas said, "Sawdah feared that the Messenger of Allah might divorce her and she said, `O Messenger of Allah! Do not divorce me; give my day to `A'ishah.' And he did, and later on Allah sent down quran 4 verse 128

tbaba1234: i. The messenger never divorced any wife. That is false.

tbaba1234: i. The messenger never divorced any wife. That is false.
ii. There is no evidence to say that the messenger wanted to divorce her because of age... She is one of the mothers of the believers.
There is some information about Prophet Muhammad's (PBUH) wanting to divorce Sawda. However, the reason for this is not that she was old or behaved slowly.
In As-Siratu'n-Nabawiya by Ibn Hisham, one of the most important sources of the history of Islam, there are some narrations apart from those above. According to this book, some time after the marriage, Sawda caused some delay in the Prophet's relations with his daughters.

Again in the same source, the event in which the Prophet decides to divorce Sawda is also mentioned. It is narrated that when Sawda sees Suhayl b. Amr, the brother of her deceased husband, among the prisoners of Badr War with his hands tied, she said: “O Aba Yazid! How did you surrender? Could you not die with your honor?” When the Prophet heard this, he said: “Sawda! Do you oppose Allah and His Messenger?” Sawda replied: “O Messenger of Allah! I swear to Allah Who has sent you as the rightful Prophet that I could not help saying this when I saw Abu Yazid like that.” Thereupon, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) intended to divorce Sawda, but she pleaded: “O Prophet, do not divorce me! Keep me in your wedlock; show me mercy! Do not let me drift into oblivion!” Then the Prophet accepted her wish.

Islamic sources are of the same opinion that after this event, their marriage continued without any problem.

In short, Sawda is a lady who alleviated the sadness of the Prophet upon Khadija's death, who did the housework, who fulfilled the duty of motherhood for six children

tbaba1234: She feared ... Is that the same thing as HE intended ?

maclatunji: ^From whatever angle you choose to look at the topic you created, what are you trying to prove?

NL member:

So why did she fear it if there was no indication that it was going to happen.

First of all, you say that Sawdah upset the Prophet with her words to her husband's brother so the prophet became angry and wanted to divorce her.
Then you come back and say that Sawdah gave up her night only because she wanted to please the prophet, not hbecause he wanted to divorce her.

Which of your statements should I believe?

This verse of the Quran;
Now, here is what (again) Sura 4:128-130 says:
"If a wife fears cruelty or desertion on her husband's part, there is no blame on them if they arrange an amicable settlement between themselves; and such settlement is best; even though men's souls are swayed by greed. But if ye do good and practise self-restraint, God is well-acquainted with all that ye do. Ye are never able to be fair and just as between women, even if it is your ardent desire: But turn not away (from a woman) altogether, so as to leave her (as it were) hanging (in the air). If ye come to a friendly understanding, and practise self-restraint, God is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. But if they disagree (and must part), God will provide abundance for all from His all-reaching bounty: for God is He that careth for all and is Wise."

was revealed to the prophet (pbuh) about Sawdah's giving up her night to Aisha as the tafsir clearly says;


Quran 4:128 means, coming to peaceful terms, even when it involves forfeiting some rights, is better than parting. Abu Dawud At-Tayalisi recorded that Ibn `Abbas said, "Sawdah feared that the Messenger of Allah might divorce her and she said, `O Messenger of Allah! Do not divorce me; give my day to `A'ishah.' And he did, and later on Allah sent down quran 4 verse 128.
Tafsir Ibn Kathir


Therefore, Muhammed must have known that Sawdah was giving up her nights because she feared he would divorce her.
Why didn't he reassure her that he had no intention of divorcing her instead of going ahead with the agreement that she made because she was scared?

tbaba1234:

I do not know the point you are trying to make;

You want the messenger to do what you think is the best for him in his marriage.. I don't understand your position. Looking through the history of your posts, i can see the kind of crap you post.

tbaba1234: It is a very subjective matter, Sawdah is the one who offered to give up her days not the other way round. You can't look at the 6th century with a 21st century goggle.

If you read my previous post, you will see that the messenger gave her protection at her most vulnerable time even though she was already old and held her in high regard.

There is no evidence that He was ever unfair to her except the ones you produce in your brain.

tbaba1234: You are still missing the point. Now let's break it down.
In Islam, You have to be just to all wives to. Now if you feel you can not fulfill that obligation of justice. Is it better to let the person go or allow the person to persist in injustice.
Now travel to the 6th century...
[size=14pt]Sawdah was really old, as a result, The messenger found it difficult giving her conjugal rights to her.[/size]

She feared that this could lead to a divorce as the messenger is obligated to give each wife equal rights.

But like the Ayah says: "....Ye are never able to be fair and just as between women, even if it is your ardent desire: But turn not away (from a woman) altogether, so as to leave her (as it were) hanging (in the air)."
[/size]
She decided to give up her time ad let go of HER right. She gave up her right voluntarily. She remained an important member of the home till her death.

The ayah commands the messenger and all muslims to realise that even when equal justice is impossible as in this case because of her age, you must never leave a woman hanging.
I am waiting to get your point.

tbaba1234: Abu Dawood reported this hadeeth (from ‘Aa’ishah): ‘The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) never used to prefer any of us over others in sharing his time (i.e., he was fair in dividing his nights among his wives, and each one of them had her allotted night).
When Sawdah bint Zam’ah grew old and feared that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) might divorce her, she said: ‘O Messenger of Allaah, my day is for ‘Aa’ishah,’ and he accepted this from her. Then concerning this and similar cases, the aayah was revealed (interpretation of the meaning): ‘And if a woman fears cruelty or desertion on her husband’s part…’ [al-Nisaa’ 4:128]. These reports agree that she feared divorce and so gave her day to ‘Aa’ishah.

It is clear that the messenger gave all his wives their due time, and sawdah decided to give hers up. From all indications, the agreement was amicable to both parties. No one complained , so how is it doing you?



You grouse is that the messenger should have said no abi??... Is that what you made this thread for?? Not one of his wives said a bad word about him, during his life or after his death.

How many men with just one wife can confidently say that?

If you do not like what happened, i can't help you.

tbaba1234: Sawdah was really old, as a result, The messenger found it difficult giving her conjugal rights to her

tbaba1234: Not one of his wives said a bad word about him, during his life or after his death.

NL member:

I have no grouse about anything, please.
I think many Muslims are wonderful and peace loving and its unfortunate that extremists give them a bad name.

Back to the topic,
When one makes an agreement out of fear, that agreement is not a willing one, neither is it an amicable one. It is an agreement one was compelled to make, due to then fact that they feared some type of harm or misfortune.

Sawdah made that agreement of of fear of divorce by the prophet and he accepted it because he was already contemplating divorcing her due to her old age.


I think it is unbelievably superficial and shallow to start finding it difficult to sleep with your wife and even contemplate divorcing her just because she is old. A wife that like you said, was very loyal and well behaved all through her years of the marriage.
That is the same person that is now suddenly repulsive because of no other reason than her old age, something she had no control over.


I thought uttering bad words against the prophet was a sin and displeasing to Allah?
Maybe that was the real reason why they never uttered any bad words about him.
No offense.
Or if you meant they never complained about any of his actions then you would still be wrong because his wives complained about his actions sometimes. Of all the wives of the prophet (SAW) only Aisha (RA) was a virgin, most were widows, so not young, he married most due to peity and mercy