The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "My likeness among the prophets is like that of a man who built a house, making it excellent, complete, and beautiful, but left the space of a single brick unfilled. People began circling the building, marveling at it, and saying, 'If only the place of that brick were completed.' I am, among the prophets, in the place of that brick."
أن رسول الله ﷺ قال: مثلي في النبيين كمثل رجل بني دارا فأحسنها وأكملها وجملها، وترك منها موضع لبنة، فجعل الناس يطوفون بالبناء ويعجبون منه ويقولون: لو تم موضع تلك اللبنة، وأنا في النبيين بموضع تلك اللبنة.
Tirmidhi narrated it (3613) from Muhammad bin Bashshar, who said, "Abu Amir narrated to us, Zuhayr bin Muhammad narrated to us, from Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Aqeel, from Tufayl bin Abu bin Kaab, from his father," and so he related it. Imam Ahmad narrated it (21243) via Abu Amir, with the same wording. Tirmidhi said, "A hasan hadith." I say, it is as he said, for Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Aqeel is disputed, though his hadith is hasan.On this subject there is also a report from Jabir bin Abdullah, that the Prophet ﷺ said, "I am the leader of the messengers, without boasting, I am the seal of the prophets, without boasting, I am the first intercessor and the first whose intercession is accepted, without boasting."Darimi narrated it (50), as did Tabarani in Awsat (172), Bayhaqi in Itiqad (p. 192), and in his Dalail (5/480), all of them through routes going back to Bakr bin Mudar, from Jafar bin Rabia, from Salih bin Ata bin Khabab, the client of Banu Duil, from Ata bin Abu Rabah, from Jabir, and he related it.Haythami said in Majma (8/254), "Tabarani narrated it in Awsat, and it contains Salih bin Ata bin Khabab, whom I do not know, but the rest of its narrators are trustworthy."I say, that is what he said, even though this narrator has an entry in Thiqat (6/455), which is Haythami's main reference for verifying the reliability of narrators. Perhaps the copy he had was missing this entry. Moreover, I have not found any verification of him apart from that of Ibn Hibban, and no one is mentioned as having narrated from him except Jafar bin Rabia, so he is counted among the unknown narrators.What is reported from Uqba bin Amir is not sahih, he said, "I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, 'If there were to be a prophet after me, it would be Umar bin Khattab.'"Tirmidhi narrated it (3686), as did Imam Ahmad (17405) and Hakim (3/85), all of them through Abu Abdul-Rahman Muqri, from Haywa, from Bakr bin Amr, from Musharrah bin Han, from Uqba bin Amir, and he related the hadith.Tirmidhi said, "Hasan gharib, we do not know it except through the hadith of Musharrah bin Han." Hakim said, "Its chain of transmission is sahih."I say, it contains Musharrah bin Han, and although Ibn Main considered him trustworthy, he contradicts others and makes mistakes. For this reason Ibn Hibban said in Majruhin (1066), "He narrates from Uqba bin Amir hadiths that are objectionable, and he is not corroborated in them. The correct approach regarding him is to set aside what he narrates alone, and to give credit only to what agrees with what trustworthy narrators report."Here he narrated this hadith alone, and I have not found anyone who corroborates him in it. Tirmidhi confirmed that it comes only through the hadith of Musharrah bin Han. Imam Ahmad was asked about this hadith and said, "Strike it out, for in my view it is objectionable." Muntakhab min Ilal by Maqdisi (106).