Texts of Islam

The Prophets, Their Lives and Their Stories: Moses: Taking Off The Shoes in The Valley of Tuwa

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This is a passage from an Islamic sacred text presenting theological commentary on Quran verse TaHa:12, in which God commands Moses to remove his shoes in the holy Valley of Tuwa. The text centers on a teaching attributed to Al-Mahdi, who rejects the common scholarly explanation that the shoes were made from ritually impure animal hide, arguing that this interpretation would imply Moses was ignorant of proper prayer practice — a form of disbelief. Al-Mahdi instead offers a spiritual interpretation: the shoes symbolize attachments to family and loved ones, and God was commanding Moses to give his heart entirely to God alone, citing the Quranic principle that a man cannot hold two loves simultaneously in his heart. The passage also explores a secondary, more literal interpretation — that bare feet in a sacred space express humility before the Creator and allow one to receive blessing from holy ground, drawing a parallel to ancient pilgrimage practices around the Kaaba. Supporting context is offered through hadith attributing the valley's sanctity to its role as a site of angelic selection and divine speech, as well as Ibn Abbas's linguistic commentary on the meaning of "Mount Sinai." The text is aimed at readers already familiar with Islamic scripture and assumes engagement with Quranic cross-references across multiple suras.

The Prophets, Their Lives and Their Stories: Moses: Taking Off The Shoes in The Valley of Tuwa

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