Importance of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ as a Messenger in Islam

Without him there is no Islam

Prophet Muhammad ﷺ importance can be given in an example of a messenger sent by a great emperor, whose fame covers the entire globe, to a people for delivering a very important message, a piece of declaration which is going to affect their lives, lives of their families and generations to come. If the people received the emperor's great declaration and claim to love him and believe in his word but show no respect to his messenger, even though his declaration clearly mentions the importance and honor they need to display to him, then it is simple to understand that the emperor will not be so pleased from those people after all. Such is the example of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

In the case of Allah ﷻ and His Messenger Muhammad ﷺ  we need to be even more careful, in fact we need to be extremely careful as all our efforts done in this world will come to nothing especially when the authority given to our blessed Prophet in Islam is enormous. After Allah ﷻ comes him, and that is expressed throughout message of the Quran, such as: “O you who believe! Do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet, and do not speak loud to him as you speak loud to one another, lest your deeds became null while you do not perceive.”[1] In Islam, raising your voice against any one is sinful and considered bad manners, raising your voice against your parents is considered disrespectful and very sinful, while raising your voice against the Prophet can put you in a complete loss in the hereafter even though one might be deceivingly enjoying pleasures of this worldly life. After the passing away of the Prophet, our raising against his voice symbolizes our challenge to his commandments typically found in the authenticated hadith literature. 

Allah ﷻ has created humans and provided the faculties of five senses and intelligence to discern meanings of things that lie within the capacity of our understanding. As for hidden matters that belong to the world of al-ghayb (unseen), Allah ﷻ sent Prophets to reveal those matters because their access lies beyond our external perceptions. Thus, prophethood is means of information about the unseen. There is no source available for us to know the personality and attributes of Allah, angels, paradise, hell and the hereafter and many matters of the unseen except through the guidance of the prophets. Therefore, in Islam the knowledge of revelation has come down to us through two sources: Quran and the prophetic sunnah (actions) as well as hadith (words). Leaving one of the two will deprive us of the light required to guide ourselves through the darkness of ignorance, disbelief, superstitions, misguidance, which depletes this world.

Additionally, man is made of body and soul, animal and angelic tendencies, both are combined within him. He needs to make use of these inherent qualities within him in a way that he can keep a balance and be able to communicate with the upper world. This is, part of spirituality, which is the heart of Islam and faith is cannot be perfected without it. In order to achieve perfection in this, one needs an example, a guide, an exemplary character that we can follow in every day of our lives to properly achieve this height as that is purpose of humankind’s existence. We are encouraged by the Quran to follow the one who balances these qualities within his body and soul and made best use of them in the most perfect manner, and to whom belongs the best and beautiful character that we need to look up to: “and you (O Muhammad) are certainly on the most exalted standard of moral excellence.”[2] Hence the importance of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ ​as a messenger. 

References:
[1] Al Quran 49:02
[2] Al Quran 68:4