She said, I asked, "Messenger of Allah, suppose you came down into a valley where there was a tree from which others had already eaten, and you also found trees from which nothing had been eaten, in which of them would you let your camel graze?"He replied, "In the one from which nothing had been eaten."She meant that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ did not marry any virgin other than her.
قالت: قلت: يا رسول الله، أرأيت لو نزلت واديا وفيه شجرة قد أكل منها، ووجدت شجرا لم يؤكل منها، في أيهما كنت ترتع بعيرك؟ قال: في التي لم يرتع منها يعني أن رسول الله ﷺ لم يتزوج بكرا غيرها.
Bukhari related it in the Book of Marriage (5077) from Ismail bin Abdullah, who said, "My brother told me, from Sulayman (that is, Ibn Bilal), from Hisham bin Urwa, from his father, from Ayesha," and so he narrated it.As for what is reported from Abdul-Rahman bin Salim bin Utba bin Uwaym bin Saada Ansari, from his father, from his grandfather, who said, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Seek out virgins, for they have sweeter mouths, more fertile wombs, and are more content with little," this is daif. Ibn Majah related it (1861) from Ibrahim bin Munzir Hizami, who said, "Muhammad bin Talha Taymi told us, who said, Abdul-Rahman bin Salim bin Utba told me, from his father, from his grandfather," and so he narrated it. Abdul-Rahman bin Salim had no one narrate from him except Muhammad bin Talha Taymi, so he is unknown, and likewise no one narrated from Salim bin Utba except his son Abdul-Rahman bin Salim, so he too is unknown.Bayhaqi related it (7/81) through another route, from Fayd bin Wathiq, from Muhammad bin Talha bin Tawil Taymi, "Abdul-Rahman bin Salim bin Abdul-Rahman informed me, from his father, from his grandfather," and so he narrated it. Bayhaqi said, "Abdul-Rahman bin Uwaym had no companionship with the Prophet." I say, companionship belonged only to Utba bin Uwaym and his father. It appears that some of the narrators abridged the chain and erred in doing so.His saying, "more fertile wombs," means having more children. There are hadiths to the same effect from Jabir bin Abdullah, Abdullah bin Masud, Kaab bin Ujra, and others. Tabarani and others related them, but they are all defective, as Haythami mentioned in Majma (4/259). There are other supporting reports for it as well, but none of them has been established as reliable, except that one might say that the abundance of its supporting reports indicates that there is some basis for preferring virgins over previously married women, for the reasons already mentioned. And Allah, the Exalted, knows best.