Is it true that Allah created the universe for the sake of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ?

Phrases and reports circulate in this area that many people take to be hadith, and which are not established.

The most famous is: “Were it not for you, were it not for you, I would not have created the heavens.” The verifying hadith scholars judged it fabricated, and it is in none of the relied-upon collections of the Sunna.

Likewise what is narrated about Ādam seeking intercession by the right of Muhammad ﷺ and being forgiven; it is a weak report turning on narrators who have been criticised.

What the text does state about the purpose of creation:

“And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.” (Qur’an 51:56)

The purpose named is worship, and nothing besides.

So what is the Prophet's ﷺ rank? Established and immense by what is sound: that he is the master of the children of Ādam, the first for whom the earth will split open, the holder of the praiseworthy station and the great intercession, and that Allah raised his mention. All of this is established, and honouring him needs no fabricated reports.

And why does this matter? Because attributing to the Prophet ﷺ something he did not say is a grave matter, and because excess in veneration is the door through which what befell the nations before us came in. The principle: “Whoever introduces into this affair of ours what is not part of it, it is rejected” (Sahih Muslim 1718).

A practical benefit: when something attributed to the Prophet ﷺ reaches you, ask where it is found — which book, which number, and what its grading is. What is sound has an address you can return to; what is fabricated has none.