(Revealed before Hijrah)
There is complete unanimity of opinion among Muslim scholars and Commentators of the Qur’an that this Surah was revealed at Mecca during the early years of the Call. Noldeke and Muir also subscribe to this view. Some scholars, however, are of the opinion that the Surah was the fifth to be revealed, the four Surahs Al-‘Alaq, Al-Qalam, Al-Muzzammil and Al-Muddaththir preceding it. It seems to deal with the people having red-faces and fiery tempers; hence its title. In Surah Al-Kauthar the Holy Prophet was given a twofold promise about the great and rapid increase of his followers and about the failure of the machinations of his enemies against Islam. In the immediately preceding Surah—An-Nasr—reference was made to the first part of the promise, the present Surah refers to its second part.