What is the meaning of our declaration of faith?

In our declaration of faith, we say, “And I bear witness that Muhammad (ﷺ) is the Messenger of Allah”. That is not just a statement of fact, statement of an event or a statement of history. It is ones belief which has a practical manifestation which is that of obeying the Messenger (ﷺ). As Allah has stated in the Qur’an in number of places:

أطيعوا الله والرسول

"Obey Allah and the Messenger." [1]

This is the instruction given to all the people to whom messengers were sent. They had to obey Allah because Allah gave the general ruling and then they had to obey the messengers. They had to follow the messengers because the messengers interpreted practically what the divine revelations laid down the principle for, in human society. So, when the Prophet (ﷺ) entered into our dress code and gave certain guidelines, we have to try to follow them, because there is good in following them and there is harm in not. It’s not that he (ﷺ) wanted to make our lives complicated so he (ﷺ)  said don’t do this, do this, not this, not that. No, these instructions are all for our betterment. It is good for individuals, the society and to help the society.[2]

References:

[1] Qur’an 8:20

[2] http://www.islamreligion.com/category/50/