Salaam.
Hadiths teach that the Prophet of Islam was a man who had a dozen wives while living a very active sexual life. But when one examines history, it can be proved logically that the Prophet would have lived a life of celibacy after the death of his beloved wife Khadija.
Looking for rational proof?
1. The Prophet lived most of his life in a monogamous relationship. It seems highly illogical that a man who was in complete peace living only with one woman from the age of 25-50years (his wife was 15 years his senior) , would suddenly become desirous of having multiple sex partners during his senior years. When he was legally entitled to have more than one wife, why did he not pursue that direction earlier in life?
2.
None of the Prophet's wives ever became pregnant after marriage to him. Think about it! Is that not an unbelievable situation if the Prophet was indeed having normal marital relationships with them? There can be no question of impotence or sterility on the Prophet's part; his children by Khadija were proof of that. No question either of barrenness on the part of the other wives, since all except Aisha had children by previous husbands. How then did ALL his wives consistently remain childless throughout their marriages with the Prophet?
Thus the only explanation that can be deduced is that the multiply married Prophet remained celibate after the death of his beloved Khadijah. He married women who had no other support in society so as to provide them financial assistance and a secure home, taking care of those who had no other way to take care of themselves; he also agreed to marriages that would help solidify political bonds in order to strengthen the infant Islamic community.
There is but one another rumour of the Prophet's son 'Ibrahim' who was born to him through his 'concubine'- Mariya the Copt, an Egyptian slave whom Muhammad had freed and kept for himself (other sources say she was a gift from the Egyptian ruler, Al-Muqawqis). There are hadiths which try to explain the following story about Mariya:
It was claimed that the Prophet betrayed his own wives when he slept with his concubine Maria in the house of Hafsah on the day he was supposed to be with her. Hafsah became angry and asked:
?in my home, on my bed, during my day??
The Messenger then said that he would never approach Maria again if it would make Hafsah happy and swore an oath that he would never touch Maria again. That is when the Quranic revelation came:
Qur'an 66:1-2?O Prophet! why do you forbid (yourself) that which Allah has made lawful for you; you seek to please your wives; and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. Allah indeed has sanctioned for you the expiation of your oaths and Allah is your Protector, and He is the Knowing, the Wise.Even if this story were to be true, it only shows that the Prophet definitely took oaths of celibacy atleast from one of his partners. On the other hand, one can argue that the Prophet who lived a life of celibacy, fell in love once again much later in life with Mariya the Copt (who was supposedly very beautiful) and became desirous of her to the horror of his other wives. It was their jealousies that lead to Prophet denying himself the love he felt for this women, which was chastised in the Quranic verse.
In either case, since the child of Mariya 'Ibrahim' died at seventeen months old, and it remains unclear if the baby and the relationship itself ever actually existed, in a culture in which sons were considered a sign of their fathers? virility, the whole story could have just been a kind of legendary assurance of the Prophet?s honor.
Too many centuries have passed by to know anything for certain. But one thing is- The Prophet did not marry Ayesha before puberty because he had 'worldly motives'.
As the Orientalist scholar W Montgomery Watt wrote: "Of all the world's great men, none has been so much maligned as Muhammad."
