Is the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbidden to all women of the Ummah based on Allah Almighty's saying, "It is not lawful for you [to marry more] women after..."?

The statement that the Prophet's wives became forbidden to anyone else due to the verse in Surat Al-Ahzab (لَا يَحِلُّ لَكَ النِّسَاءُ مِنْ بَعْدُ - No women are lawful for you hereafter) is incorrect. There is no evidence for it from the Quran or Sunnah, nor has any scholar ever stated it.

Indeed, scholars of exegesis (tafsir) have differed regarding this verse. Some believe it means that no other women became lawful for the Prophet after those who chose him. Others believe it means that none of the women became lawful for him except those already permitted in a previous verse. Still others said it means that marrying non-Muslim women became unlawful.

Scholars also differed as to whether the verse is definitive (muhkam) or abrogated (mansukh). Among those who held it to be abrogated are Aisha, Ali ibn Abi Talib, Ibn Abbas, and others. They differed regarding the abrogating text: some said the abrogating text is the hadith of Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her): "The Messenger of Allah did not die until women were made lawful for him." Others said the abrogating text is Allah's saying: (تُرْجِي مَنْ تَشَاءُ مِنْهُنَّ وَتُؤْوِي إِلَيْكَ مَنْ تَشَاءُ - You may defer [the turn of] whom you will among them, and take to yourself whom you will).