Nearby localities include Annazah to the northeast, Maten al-Sahel to the northwest, Husayn al-Baher to the west, Dweir al-Shaykh Saad to the southwest, Awaru to the south, Khirbet al-Faras to the southeast and Khawabi to the east.

During the late Ottoman era, basalt-based masonry served as a principal industry in al-Sawda, employing up to 400 inhabitants by the beginning of the French Mandate period.

[4] During the Ottoman era (1516-1918), the administrative center of the vicinity ("subdistrict") was based at the Sunni Muslim town and medieval castle of Khawabi.

[5] However, during the period of French Mandate rule that soon followed the Ottoman withdrawal from Syria, the center of the vicinity was moved to al-Sawda by the French authorities, because unlike Khawabi, al-Sawda's inhabitants did not participate in the 1919 Syrian Revolt led by Sheikh Salih al-Ali who hailed from the region.

While Khawabi rapidly declined, al-Sawda became a dynamic center having a clinic, a secondary school and a wide range of shops.