“Were it not for you, I would not have created the universe.”

Many false and fabricated ahadeeth (narrations) have been narrated that say similar things.
For example: 

“Were it not for
you, I would not have created the universe.” 

This was quoted by
al-Shawkani in al-Fawaid al-Majmoo’ah fi’l-Ahadeeth al-Mawdoo’ah (p. 326).
He said:  

Al-San’ani said:
(it is) mawdoo’ (fabricated). 

Al-Albani said in
al-Silsilah al-Da’eefah (282): (it is) mawdoo’. 

Another example is
the hadeeth narrated by al-Hakim according to which Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be
pleased with him) said: 

“Allah revealed to
‘Eesa (Jesus, peace be upon him): ‘O ‘Eesa, believe in Muhammad, and tell
whoever you meet of your ummah (followers) to believe in him. For were it
not for Muhammad, I would not have created Adam, and were it not for
Muhammad, I would not have created Paradise and Hell. I created the Throne
over the water and it would not settle until I wrote on it, La ilaha
ill-Allah Muhammad Rasool Allah (There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is
the Messenger of Allah).” 

Al-Hakim said: its
isnad (chain of narration) is saheeh! But al-Thahabi commented on this and
said: I believe it is fabricated and falsely attributed to Sa’eed. 

Meaning, Sa’eed
ibn Abu ‘Aroobah (one of the narrators of this hadeeth). This hadeeth was
narrated from him by ‘Amr ibn Aws al-Ansari, who is the one who is accused
of fabricating it. Al-Thahabi mentioned him in al-Meezan where he said: “He
produced a munkar (rejected) report,” then he quoted this hadeeth, and said,
“I believe that it is mawdoo’ (fabricated).” Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar agreed with
him, as it says in al-Lisan. 

Al-Albani said in
al-Silsilah al-Da’eefah (280): There is no basis for it. 

Shaykh al-Islam
Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked: 

Is the hadeeth
which some people quote – “Were it not for you, Allah would not have created
the Throne or the Kursiy (lit. Footstool) or the earth or the heavens or the
sun or the moon or anything else” saheeh or not? 

He replied:

Muhammad (peace
and blessings of Allah be upon him) is the leader of the sons of Adam (peace
be upon him), and the best and noblest of creation, hence some people say
that Allah created the universe because of him, or that were it not for him,
Allah would not have created the Throne or the Kursiy or the earth or the
heavens or the sun or the moon. 

But this hadeeth
that is narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
is neither saheeh (sound) nor da’eef (weak), and it was not narrated by any
scholar in a hadeeth from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon
him). Neither was it known from the Sahabah/Companions (may Allah be pleased
with them). Rather it is the words of one who is unknown. 

Majmoo’ al-Fatawa,
11/86-96. 

The Standing
Committee was asked: 

Can it be said
that Allah created the heavens and the earth for the purpose of creating the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)? What is the meaning of
the hadeeth, “Were it not for you the universe would not have been created,”
and does this hadeeth have any basis? 

They replied: 

The heavens and
the earth were not created for the sake of the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allah be upon him), rather they were created for the purpose which Allah
mentions (interpretation of the meaning): 

“It is Allah Who
has created seven heavens and of the earth the like thereof (i.e. seven).
His Command descends between them (heavens and earth), that you may know
that Allah has power over all things, and that Allah surrounds all things in
(His) Knowledge.” [65:12] 

As for the hadeeth
mentioned, it is falsely attributed to the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allah be upon him) and has no sound basis. 

Fatawa al-Lajnah
al-Daimah, 1/312 

Shaykh Ibn Baz was
asked about this hadeeth and he said: 

The answer is that
this was transmitted from the words of some of the common people who have no
understanding. Some people say that the world was created for the sake of
Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and were it not for
Muhammad the world would not have been created and mankind would not have
been created. This is false and has no basis, and these are corrupt words.
Allah created the world so that He would be known and worshipped. He created
the world and He created mankind so that His names and attributes, His power
and knowledge, would be known and so that He alone would be worshipped with
no partner or associate, and so that He would be obeyed – not for the sake
of Muhammad or for the sake of Nooh or Moosa or ‘Eesa or any other Prophet
(peace be upon them all). Rather Allah created the universe so that He alone
would be worshipped, with no partner or associate.

 Fatawa Noor ‘ala
al-Darb, 46.

 And Allah knows
best.