Surah At-Takathur belongs to the Mufassal by which the Prophet ﷺ was favoured over the other prophets. It is reported that reciting it equals reciting a thousand verses, but the chain of this hadith includes a narrator who is not known, so it is weak. The surah condemns competing in wealth and children, and reminds those distracted by this world of the grave and the reckoning.
It belongs to the Mufassal, given to the Prophet ﷺ as an extra gift by which he was favoured over the other prophets, according to the hadith of Wathilah ibn al-Asqa’: “… and I was favoured with the Mufassal.”
It condemns those distracted by vying in wealth, children and clans, and urges taking provision of good deeds and of what saves from punishment.
Its aim is to remind those who compete in abundance and are distracted by this world of the grave and the reckoning, and to affirm that the Day of Resurrection, the reckoning and the recompense are true.
ألا يستطيع أحدكم أن يقرأ ألف آية في كل يوم؟ قالوا: ومن يستطيع ذلك؟ قال: أما يستطيع أحدكم أن يقرأ: ﴿أَلْهَاكُمُ التَّكَاثُرُ﴾
“Is none of you able to recite a thousand verses every day?” They said: “Who could do that?” He said: “Is none of you able to recite ‘Alhakumu at-takathur’?”
Main purpose: To remind those who compete in abundance and are distracted by this world of the grave and the reckoning.
At-Takathur is a Meccan surah of eight verses; some copies of the Qur’an call it “Alhakum”, and some Companions called it “the Graveyard” (al-Maqbarah). Among the reported causes of its revelation, it is narrated from Ibn Abbas that it came down about two clans of Quraysh, Banu ’Abd Manaf and Banu Sahm, who vied in the number of their chiefs and nobles, each saying: “We have more chiefs and are mightier.”
Tafsir of Surah At-Takathur Listen to At-Takathur by other reciters
The full Arabic text: introduction, virtues, themes, and a study of the chain and authenticity of each hadith.
