Does religion need a Messenger, and were it not for the Messenger, would the earth and all upon it not have been created, along with a clarification of the status of the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace?

The People of Sunnah are the middle nation, avoiding both extremism (ghuluw) and negligence (jafa'). The belief that Allah created the earth because of the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, is an ugly form of extremism and contradicts His saying, the Exalted: "And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me." (Qur’an 51:56) Religion needs the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, in the sense that he is the intermediary in conveying the laws, not because Allah is in need of him. The message is a divine mandate and an honor, and the warning against extremism does not negate the rights of the Messenger over his nation.