O Moses take off your shoes

Question: It is mentioned in the Holy Qur’an: {O Moses, take off your shoes, indeed you are in the sacred Valley Towa}
What is meant by this verse?
Answer: In the Name of Allah The Merciful The Intensely Merciful
All Praises belong to Allah the Lord of the World
O Allah send Your Peace and Blessings upon Muhammad and the Family of Muhammad the Imams and the Mahdis and send great greetings.

Allah The Exalted said: {Indeed, I am your Lord, so take off your shoes . Indeed, you are in the sacred valley Towa.} [Surat Taha (20):12]
The shoe in the foot any human being protects it, but also it slows down his walking speed. Allah swt did not mean only the physical shoes that slow down the walking speed of Moses a.s to reach the tree from which he was spoken to. Rather, He (swt) wanted Moses (a.s) to remove from his self everything that hinders his walking towards Allah swt.
So He (swt) wanted Moses to remove his love for anything/anyone except his love for Allah, and He wanted him to remove his fear from anyone except his fear from Allah, so that he does not protect himself by fear or caution, rather, he protects himself by Allah swt, and so that his love for any human being be by Allah and through his Love for Allah swt.

Fear of tyrants (like Pharaoh) is from the characteristics of the non working scholars – for their hearts are full of the fear from the tyrants – or like Allah swt call them in the Noble Qur’an “donkeys”. He The Exalted said: {The example of those who were entrusted with the Torah and then did not take it on, is like that of a donkey…} [Surat Al-Jum’a (62):5]. And He The Exalted said: {Verily, the most hideous of voices is the voice of the donkeys} [Surat Luqman (31):19]. And Allah The Exalted said: {As if they were frightened donkeys} [Surat Al-Mudathir (74):50].

Imam Al-Sadiq (a.s) said in his interpretation of this Divine Speech with Moses (a.s): {Take off your Shoes}. He a.s said: “Because his shoes were from the leather of a dead donkey” – ‘Ilal Al-Shara’i volume 1 page 66.
Al-Sadiq (a.s) did not want except to show this characteristic, the characteristic of fear regarding one’s self from the tyrant, and this is from the characteristics of the non working scholars or the donkeys. And Al-Sadiq (a.s) did not mean that Moses’ heart had fear from the tyrant after he entered the sacred divine arena, for Allah swt says to Moses a.s you have reached the arena of the divine sacredness, so have no fear of being overtaken nor of anything else, because the one defending you is Allah. So now you are in the arena of His Sacredness, the sacred valley Tuwa.

Moses’ (a.s) heart did not have in fear from the tyrants after he reached the arena of the divine sacredness. But there is a lesson in this divine speech from Allah swt to every human being who wants to reach the sacred arena “the sacred valley Tuwa”. Firstly, in order to be worthy to enter this sacred arena, the person has to remove from his heart any fear from the tyrants like Pharoah, and to have certitude that the one who defends him is Allah swt Who is Capable of everything versus the ones who are not capable of anything.
So what is asked of Moses a.s now is to enter the arena of sacredness and to remove from his heart fear except from Allah, even if this fear was the size of an atom, then he must fill his heart with fear from Allah swt.

As for the saying of Moses (a.s) {They have charged me [with a crime] for which I am afraid they will kill me.} [Surat Al-Shu3araa (26):14], Moses a.s meant he is afraid for the Divine Message, not for himself. So he was afraid that they kill him before he completes informing the people about the divine message that he was appointed to deliver. So when Allah swt replied to him by saying {[Allah] said, “No. Go both of you with Our signs; indeed, We are with you, listening.} [Surat Al Shu3ara (26):15], Moses hurried and went to the tyrant and informed him of the message and informed Bani Israel and completed delivering the message by the favor/preference of Allah Who is capable of everything.

Ahmed Alhasan (a.s)

Question 60 from the Book The Enlightening Answer across the Ether (Al-Jawab Al-Moneer)
http://saviorofmankind.com/