Question Summary:
How authentic is this saying and what actual meaning does it have?

Question Detail:

 
My question is about to get more clear idea about a saying of Hazrat Ayesha R.A. I read it on one of the website and the saying is "'Certainly, do say, he [the Holy Prophet] is the Seal of all Prophets, but do not say, there is no prophet after him'.34
Takmala Majma al bahar.
So my question is how authentic is this saying and what actual meaning does it have ?

Answer :

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
The narration in reference has been mentioned by Imam Ibn Abī Shaybah (rahimahullāh) in his Musannaf.[1] The original Arabic is as follows:
حَدَّثَنَا حُسَيْنُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا جَرِيرُ بْنُ حَازِمٍ، عَنْ عَائِشَةَ، قَالَتْ: "قُولُوا: خَاتَمُ النَّبِيِّينَ، وَلَا تَقُولُوا: لَا نَبِيَّ بَعْدَهُ"
In regards to the authenticity of the narration, there is inqitā` (a break) in the chain of narration between `Āishah (radiyallāhu `anhā) and the one narrating from her, i.e. Jarīr ibn Hāzim (rahimahullāh)[2] which indicates that there is a narrator missing between the two.
Regarding the meaning of this narration, Imam Ibn Qutaybah (rahimahullāh) states in his Ta’wīl Mukhtalaf al-Hadīth:
وَأَمَّا قَوْلُ عَائِشَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهَا: "قُولُوا لِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ خَاتَمُ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ، وَلَا تَقُولُوا لَا نَبِيَّ بَعْدَهُ"؛ فَإِنَّهَا تَذْهَبُ إِلَى نُزُولِ عِيسَى عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ، وَلَيْسَ هَذَا مِنْ قَوْلِهَا، نَاقِضًا لِقَوْلِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: "لَا نَبِيَّ بَعْدِي" لِأَنَّهُ أَرَادَ: لَا نَبِيَّ بَعْدِي، يَنْسَخُ مَا جِئْتُ بِهِ، كَمَا كَانَتِ الْأَنْبِيَاءُ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ وَسَلَّمَ تَبْعَثُ بِالنُّسَخِ، وَأَرَادَتْ هِيَ: "لَا تَقُولُوا إِنَّ الْمَسِيح لَا ينزل بعده". 
In regards to the saying of `Āishah (radiyallāhu `anhā): “Do say…”, it is referring to the descent of `Īsā (`alayhis salām). Furthermore, this saying of hers does not contradict the saying of Nabī ﷺ , “There is no prophet after me” because he ﷺ meant, “there is no prophet to come after me that will abrogate what I have brought to you” the way other messengers would abrogate the laws of previous messengers. Therefore, `Āishah (radiyallāhu `anhā) meant (by her words), “Don’t say that the Messiah (`Īsā `alayhis salām) will not descend after him.”[3]
To summarize what has been said above, there is a famous narration that is found both in Bukhārī[4] and Muslim[5] that states that there will be no messenger after the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ but there will be caliphs that will succeed him. Therefore, we cannot take the outward meaning of the words in the first narration and say that it means that there can be new prophets after the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ; rather, the meaning would be that there will be no “new” prophet or no prophethood after the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ even though a previous prophet may descend into this world as a follower of Islam without any new message such as `Īsā (`alayhis salām) who will descend with his previous prophethood and not a new one.[6]
If we were to take the apparent meaning of the narration, then we would be giving preference to a narration of a sahābiyyah over the narration of the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ, especially when the former narration has a broken chain and the latter narration is authentic and found in both Bukhārī and Muslim.
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Bilal Mohammad
Student Darul Iftaa
New Jersey, USA
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.
www.daruliftaa.net