Surah Taha

Taha is the 20th surah of the Quran. A Meccan surah of 135 verses, it is 45th in the traditional order of revelation, after Maryam, and closes the sixteenth juz'. It takes its name from the two letters Ta-Ha with which it opens, and it contains the longest account in the Quran of the life of Moses, from the burning fire in the valley of Tuwa to the golden calf.

Name and context

Some early commentators read "Taha" as a name of the Prophet ﷺ or as meaning "O man", but most treat it like the other disconnected letters whose meaning God knows best. The surah belongs to the early Meccan period: Ibn Mas'ud counted it among the first surahs he learned (al-Bukhari). A famous story links it to the conversion of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, who is said to have read its opening at his sister's house; the account is widespread in the biographies of the Prophet, but its chains of transmission are weak.

Main themes

• The opening reassures the Prophet ﷺ: the Quran was not sent down to cause him distress, but as a reminder from the Lord of the Throne, to whom belong the most beautiful names (20:1–8).
• Moses at the fire, where God addresses him: "I am God; there is no god but Me, so worship Me and establish prayer for My remembrance" (20:14). He receives the signs of the staff and the hand and asks: "My Lord, expand my chest for me and ease my task" (20:25–26), with Aaron as his helper.
• His infancy, when his mother cast him into the river (20:37–40); the command to speak gently to Pharaoh (20:44); the sorcerers who believe and defy Pharaoh's threats (20:70–73); the crossing of the sea and the calf fashioned by the Samiri (20:77–97).
• The Day of Judgment, when faces are humbled before the Ever-Living, the Sustainer (20:108–112); the instruction not to hasten the recitation of the Quran and to pray "My Lord, increase me in knowledge" (20:114).
• Adam, who forgot his covenant, was tempted with the tree of immortality, then repented and was chosen (20:115–122); whoever turns away from God's remembrance will have a straitened life (20:124).
• A closing call to patience, to glorify God morning and evening, not to covet worldly splendour and to enjoin prayer on one's family (20:130–132).

In the Sunnah

Abu Umama reported that the Prophet ﷺ said God's greatest name is found in three surahs, Al-Baqara, Aal-e-Imran and Taha (Ibn Majah, graded hasan by al-Albani); many scholars identify it with "the Ever-Living, the Sustainer", found in 2:255, 3:2 and 20:111. Al-Bukhari cites under this surah the hadith in which Moses reproaches Adam for leading his descendants out of Paradise, and Adam answers that this had been written for him before he was created.