Sawdah went out after the verse of hijab had been revealed concerning her, in order to relieve herself. She was a large woman, taller in build than other women, and could not be missed by anyone who knew her. Umar bin Khattab saw her and said, "Sawdah, by Allah, you cannot hide from us. So consider how you go out."She turned back at once. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was in my house at the time, eating his evening meal with a bone in his hand. She came in and said, "Messenger of Allah, I went out and Umar said such and such to me."Then revelation came to him, and when it lifted from him, the bone was still in his hand, he had not put it down. He said, "Permission has been granted to you to go out for your needs."In the narration of Abu Bakr the wording is, "her body was taller than other women's bodies." Abu Bakr added in his version that Hisham said, this means going out to relieve oneself.
حدثنا أبو بكر بن أبي شيبة وأبو كريب قالا حدثنا أبو أسامة عن هشام عن أبيه
خرجت سودة بعد ما ضرب عليها الحجاب لتقضي حاجتها وكانت امرأة جسيمة تفرع النساء جسما لا تخفى على من يعرفها فرآها عمر بن الخطاب فقال يا سودة والله ما تخفين علينا فانظري كيف تخرجين قالت فانكفأت راجعة ورسول الله ﷺ في بيتي وإنه ليتعشى وفي يده عرق فدخلت فقالت يا رسول الله إني خرجت فقال لي عمر كذا وكذا قالت فأوحي إليه ثم رفع عنه وإن العرق في يده ما وضعه فقال إنه قد أذن لكن أن تخرجن لحاجتكن وفي رواية أبي بكر يفرع النساء جسمها زاد أبو بكر في حديثه فقال هشام يعني البراز