Sūrat al-Ghāshiyah is unanimously accepted as a Meccan surah, and has twenty-six verses. The themes in the surah also confirm it as being Meccan. It is the sixty-eighth surah in order of revelation and therefore a later Meccan surah.
The surah’s title – al-Ghāshiyah (The Enveloper) – is derived from its first verse and is one of the many names for the Day of Judgement (see 75:1 for a summary of all its names).
The surah is broadly divided into three sections. The first describes the Day of Judgement and life in hellfire versus life in paradise. It does this by contrasting the faithless (verses 1-7) and the faithful (verses 8-16), and their respective physical appearances and demeanours on the day that shall envelop and overwhelm all of creation. The second part of the surah focuses on monotheism, inviting man to reflect on God’s creation as proof of His power and wisdom (verses 17-20). The third and final theme is the Prophet’s role in delivering God’s message to His creation (verses 21-26).
Meccan surahs typically emphasise theological principles, and this surah can be seen as neatly addressing Islam’s three major pillars: monotheism (tawḥīd), prophethood (nubuwwah), and resurrection (maʿād), albeit not in this sequence.
There are strong parallels in this surah to the previous one (Sūrat al-Aʿlā (87)). First, the opening theme of contrasting the faithless versus the faithful is seen as a continuation and elaboration from 87:11-15. Second, the previous surah concluded with an emphasis, Rather you prefer the life of this world, while the hereafter is better and more lasting (87:16-17), so it seems appropriate that this surah opens with a theme relating to the circumstances of the hereafter. Furthermore, the previous surah commands the Prophet to remind mankind (87:9-10) and this is reiterated here (verses 21-22), except in the previous surah the emphasis was on why to remind and who will take heed, whereas here it clarifies the role of the Prophet in the fate of those he reminds.
Many Sunni traditions report from al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr that the Prophet used to often recite Sūrat al-Ghāshiyah and the preceding Sūrat al-Aʿlā during the Friday congregational prayer and the Eid prayer. Ibn Kathīr and Ālūsī have quoted this from most major hadith scholars including Muslim, Abū Dāwūd, Mālik, al-Nasāʾī, and Ibn Mājah.
[1] Tamhid, 1/169. [2] Of the 114 chapters in the Quran, 85 or 86 are believed to be Meccan, meaning pre-hijrah. [3] Over jurisprudential and socio-political themes found in Medinan surahs. [4] Tabrisi, 10/723. [5] Ibn Kathir, 8/377; Suyuti, 6/342. [6] Alusi, 15/324; Ibn Kathir, 8/380.