ভূমিকা

It was indubitably revealed in Mecca, though there exists no unanimity as to being the earliest of the Chapters revealed to the Noble Prophet (S), or it followed Chapter 96 (Surah al-‘Alaq) in the sequence of Revelation.

However, according attention to the contents of these two Chapters (74, 96) reflects that the latter was revealed on the threshold of the Prophetic call, but the former concerns the time when the Noble Prophet (S) was Divinely appointed to call the general public, when the clandestine call had come to its end.

Therefore, some of the Qur’an exegetes maintain that Chapter 97 was the earliest of the Chapters revealed on the threshold of the Prophet Revelation of the Noble Prophet (S), but Chapter 74 was the earliest of the Chapters revealed following his call to the general public.

At any rate, the nature of the Meccan Chapters, mainly calling people to turn toward the origin and the return, confrontation with polytheism, and warning the beliers against Divine torment, is explicitly reflected in the blessed Chapter in question.

The Merit of Reciting the Chapter It is narrated from the Noble Imam Baqir (as) that whoever recites Surah al-Mudaththir in their obligatory canonical prayers, God Almighty shall make them accompany the Noble Prophet (S) and shall grant them his elevated degree, and they shall not be entangled with misfortune and pain in this worldly life.

Further traditions have been narrated from the Noble Prophet (S) and the Infallible Imams (as), though for the sake of brevity, mention is not herein made of them. It goes without saying that the mere recitation of the words of the blessed Chapter may not result in such great consequences, but one is supposed to accord attention to the contents and most precisely act upon them.