All #Muslims agree that Prophet Muhammad SAW was a Prophet, but will there be any more Prophets ?
What does the Quran say?
40. مَّا كَانَ مُحَمَّدٌ أَبَا أَحَدٍ مِّن رِّجَالِكُمْ وَلَٰكِن رَّسُولَ اللَّهِ وَخَاتَمَ النَّبِيِّينَ ۗ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمًا33|40|Muhammad is not the father of any of your men; but he is the Messenger of God, and the seal of the prophets.
What does the word Khatam mean?
According to the Arabic language book Lisan al-Arab of Ibn Manzur :
The khitām of a group of people, the khātim of them, or the khātam of them, is the last of them, according to al-Lihyani. And Muhammad is khātim of the prophets. At-Tahdhib (of al-Azhari): Khātim and khātam are among the names of the Prophet. And in the Qur’an: “Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but he is the Messenger of Allah and khātim of the prophets,” that is, the last of them. And: It was also recited as khātam. And the saying of al-‘Ajjaj, “Blessed to the prophets is this khātim,” is based on the well-known recitation, with a kasrah (khātim). And also among his names is al-‘āqib, and its meaning is “last of the prophets.”
According to Taj al-Arus of al-Zabidi,
Khātam: The last of a people, like khātim. And with this definition is the saying in the Qur’an, “khātam of the prophets,” that is, the last of them.
Further,
And among the names of the Prophet are khātam and khātim, and he is the one who sealed prophethood by his coming.
Narrations on the issue of the Finality of Prophethood
H 239, Ch. 6, h8 Ali ibn Muhammad has narrated from Sahl ibn Ziyad from Muhammad ibn al-Walid from ibn abu Nasr from abu al-Hassan al-Muwsali who has narrated the following from abu ‘Abd Allah, recipient of divine supreme covenant,: “Once a rabbi, hibr, came to Imam Ali, recipient of divine supreme covenant, and asked, ‘O Amir al-Mu’minin, when did your Lord come into existence?’ Imam Ali, recipient of divine supreme covenant, replied, ‘Consider carefully. The question when applies to one who did not exist (and then came into being). When does not apply to the One Who is eternal. He was before the before without before and after the after without an after. He is not the end of a certain end so that His end would also end.’ He then asked, ‘Are you a prophet?’ Imam Ali, recipient of divine supreme covenant, replied, ‘Bereft of you be your mother! I am a slave among the slaves of the Messenger of Allah, recipient of divine supreme covenant.’”
H 1223, Ch. 113, h 1 Al-Husayn ibn Muhammad has narrated from Muhammad ibn Yahya al-Farisiy from abu Hanifa Muhammad ibn Yahya from al-Walid ibn Aban from Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Muskan from his father who has said the following: “Abu ‘Abd Allah, recipient of divine supreme covenant, has said, ‘Once Fatimah, daughter of Asad, came to abu Talib with the glad news of the birth of the Holy Prophet, recipient of divine supreme covenant. Abu Talib said, ‘Wait for a sabt, then I will give you similar glad news, except prophet-hood (the new born will not be a prophet).’ “The Imam has said, ‘A sabt is thirty years. Amir al-Mu’minin Ali, recipient of divine supreme covenant, was born thirty years after the birth of the Messenger of Allah, recipient of divine supreme covenant. ’”
H 679, Ch. 49, h2 Ali has narrated from his father from ibn abu ‘Umayr from ibn ‘Udhayna from Zurarah from abu Ja‘far, recipient of divine supreme covenant, who has said the following: “Once, Jibril brought from Paradise two pieces of pomegranate to the Messenger of Allah. The Messenger of Allah ate one of them and broke the other one into two pieces. He then ate one half and gave the other half to Ali, recipient of divine supreme covenant, who also ate it. The Messenger of Allah said, ‘O Ali, the first one that I ate was prophet-hood. There is no share in it for you. The other one is knowledge in which you are my partner.’”
H 697, Ch. 53, h 2 Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from ibn abu ‘Umayr from al-Husayn ibn abu al-‘Ala’ from abu ‘Abd Allah, recipient of divine supreme covenant, who has said the following: “One must refer to us (as the Divine Authorities) to find the the rules of lawful and unlawful matters but considering us as having prophet-hood is not valid.”
H 698, Ch. 53, h 3 Muhammad ibn Yahya al-Ash’ari has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from al-Barqi from al-Nadr ibn Suwayd from Yahya ibn ‘Imran al-Halabi from Ayyub ibn al-Hurr who has said the following: “I heard abu ‘Abd Allah, recipient of divine supreme covenant, say, ‘Allah, Majestic is Whose name, ended with your prophet the (coming of) the prophets. Thus, there will never come any prophet after him. With your book He ended sending of (heavenly) books. Thus, there will never come other heavenly books. In it (your book) He has placed clarifications for all things, such as your creation and the creation of the heavens and the earth. Therein is the news of the beings before you, the laws that help settle your disputes and the news of the beings that will come into being after you, the news of the issues of paradise and fire and that to which you proceed.’”
H 701, Ch. 53, h 6 Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from al-Barqi from abu Talib from Sadir who has said the following: “Once I asked abu ‘Abd Allah, recipient of divine supreme covenant, ‘A certain group of people believes that you (‘A’immah) are gods. They read to us from the the Holy Quran about it such as, “And it is He Who in heaven is the Lord and on earth is the Lord.” (43:84) The Imam said, ‘O Sadir, my hearing, my sight, my skin, my flesh, my blood and my hair all disdain such people, and Allah also disdains them. They do not follow my religion and the religion of my ancestors. I swear by Allah, Allah will not place me with them on the Day of Resurrection. The only thing from Allah to them will be His anger.’ I (the narrator) then said, ‘Among us there is a group of people who believe that you are messengers and they read to us from the Holy Quran: “O messengers, eat of the good things and do righteousness; surely I know the things you do.”’ (23:51) “The Imam said, ‘O Sadir, my hearing, my sight, my skin, my flesh, my blood and my hair all disdain such people, and Allah and His Messenger also disdain them. They do not follow my religion and the religion of my ancestors. By Allah, Allah will not place me with them on the Day of Judgment. The only thing from Allah toward them will be His anger.’ “I (the narrator) then asked, ‘What are you then?’ The Imam said, ‘We are the treasuries of the knowledge of Allah. We are the translators of the commands of Allah. We are infallible people. Allah, the Most Holy, the Most High, has commanded people to obey us and prohibited them from disobeying us. We are well advocated Divine Authority over all that is below the heavens and above the earth.’”
H 700, Ch. 53, h 5 Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from ibn abu ‘Umayr from ibn ’Udhayna from Burayd ibn Mu‘awiya who has said the following: “Once I asked abu Ja‘far and abu ‘Abd Allah, recipients of divine supreme covenant, ‘What is your position? Whom of the people of the past do you resemble?’ The Imam said, ‘I resemble the companion of Moses and Dhul Qarnayn who were two scholars but not two prophets.’
H 699, Ch. 53, h 4 A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from al-Husayn ibn Sa‘id from Hammad ibn ‘Isa from al-Husayn ibn al-Mukhtar from al-Harith ibn al-Mughirah who has said the following: “Abu Ja‘far, recipient of divine supreme covenant, has said, ‘Ali, recipient of divine supreme covenant, was a Muhaddath ( a person to whom angels spoke).’ I (the narrator) then asked the Imam, ‘What does it mean, O Imam? Do you say he was a prophet?’ The narrator has said that the Imam raised his hand like this (meaning thereby, no, I did not say that). The Imam then said, ‘Or he is like the companion of Solomon, or the companion of Moses or like Dhul Qarnayn. Have you not heard that he (the Holy Prophet) said, “Among you is one similar to him (Dhul Qarnayn).”’