It is given in Mawahib-e-Ladunniya on the authority of “Durre Nazeem” that it has been narrated that when Allah Ta’ala created Prophet Adam (peace be upon him), then as Allah Ta’ala inspired him through Ilhaam, he said: O Allah Ta’ala! Why have kept my Kunniyah as Abu Muhammad? Allah Ta’ala said: O Adam! Raise your head and see. He saw the Noor of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam).� He said: o my Lord! Whose Noor is this? He was told that this is the Noor of a Prophet who will be from your progeny. In the heavens, His name is Ahmed (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) and on the earth, His name is Hadhrat Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam). If He were not to be there, I would not have created you nor any heaven nor the earth.
Imam Zurqani (May Allah shower His mercy on him) has written that Abu Shaykh and Hakim have narrated on the authority of Hadhrat Abdullah Bin Abbas (May Allah be well pleased with him) that Allah Ta’ala sent a revelation to Hadhrat Isa (peace be upon him) that he should believe in Hadhrat Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) and order your Ummah to believe in Him as well, because if He (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) were not there, then I would have created neither Adam nor Jannah nor hell.� When I created the ‘Arsh on water, it started trembling, so I wrote “La Ilaha Illallah Muhammadur Rasulullah” on it, which calmed it.
Dailami has narrated that it is narrated on the authority of Hadhrat Abdullah Bin Abbas (May Allah be well pleased with him) that the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said: Jibraeel (peace be upon him) came to me and said: Allah Ta’ala says: Lau Laka Ma Khalaqtul Jannah Wa Lau Laka Ma Khalaqtun Naar i.e. if you were not there, then I would not have created Jannah and if you were not there, then I would not have created hell.
It is given in Mawahib-e-Ladunniya that Ibn Asakar has narrated that Allah Ta’ala told the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam): I have created the world and the people in it to show them the status that you have with me and if you were not there, I would not have created the world.
Some of our friends, when they hear the Hadith: “Lau Laka……” say by way of taunting that in the opinion of the Muhadditheen (Hadith experts), this Hadith is baseless and they think it to be too much that the heavens were created because of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) although there it is being established that if the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) were not there, then neither would Jannah be there nor hell, neither Adam nor the world. These are all for His sake. The real objective of this creation is to show the stature of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) and to express His lofty status. This is supported by the Hadith which state that before creation of the angels, etc. His name was written on the ‘Arsh and other places. Maybe here it will be emphasized that the Holy Quran says that the genie and the humans were created only to worship Allah Ta’ala. That is why all these Hadith are false (Maudhoo’). But, such a thing should be said carefully. If we believe that the great Muhadditheen who have narrated/recorded this Hadith have not read at all the said verse of the Holy Quran or if they have read it, they did not understand it at all. If they were so ignorant, then why do the scholars of every sect present their opinion in their conjectures and why do they present other narrations of the same Muhadditheen in their other deductions although nothing from an ignorant person is considered reliable. Can any sane person say that those who did not understand the Holy Quran should be considered a Muhaddith and their opinion is accepted as evidence in the religion? Thus, we have to accept that these people had accepted that there was no contradiction between the said verse of the Holy Quran and the aforementioned Hadith and it is easily understood that in everything that Allah Ta’ala has created, He has kept many purposes and motives in them. Just consider the physical things of the world, how much the people think over them and how much benefit they draw from a single thing. As science progresses, the wonders of nature are being revealed and it is being understood that there are many purposes in the creation of every thing, which the whole world was unaware of until now. Now if in the creation of the world, there are 2 purposes, one being the Ma’arifah of Allah Ta’ala and the other being the Ma’arifah of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam), what harm is there in this?
Excerpted from Maqasid Ul Islam, 11th part, by Hadhrat Shaykh Ul Islam Imam Muhammad Anwarullah Farooqui (May Allah sanctify His secret)