28 r Brannon Wheeler
Nabataean inscriptions from Kharayeb and al-Jawf mention the making
or building of sanctuaries [mhrmt’] for Dhushara, and a Minaean inscrip-
tion seems to designate a particular location as a sacred site [hrm].^18
Muslim exegesis on Q 28:57 and 29:67 makes the claim that the Israel-
ites, during the time in the wilderness of wandering near Midian, had a
“safe sanctuary” [haram amīn]. Muhammad b. ̔Alī al-Shawkānī (d. 1250)
points to the description of the safe sanctuary, provided with fruits of all
kinds and provisions from God, as a parallel to the sanctuary in Mecca.^19
Muhammad b. ̔Abdallāh Ibn Abī Zaminīm (d. 399) uses the description
of the Israelite sanctuary in Q 26:57–59 to extend a parallel between the
prophetic activity of Muhammad and Moses.^20 According to al-Baydāwī,
the mention of the “safe sanctuary” [haram amīn] in Q 28:57 is a refer-
ence to the Meccan sanctuary that God provided the Quraysh in order to
protect them from the surrounding tribes who might persecute them on
account of their following the prophet Muhammad, as the Israelites were
protected from Pharaoh in Midian.^21 Muslim exegetes mention other sites
of Israelite pilgrimage in the Arabian peninsula, including al-Rawhā’” and
the Masjid al-Khayf in Minā.^22
In the Quran, the term masjid is most commonly linked with the ad-
jective harām [al-masjid al-harām], although the term masjid occurs in
other contexts, such as Q 7:29–31 [kull masjid] and in the plural [masājid,
masājid allāh] (Q 2:114, 9:17, 22:40, 72:18) indicating a reference to a more
generic location. The term msgd occurs in Official Aramaic and in a num-
ber of Nabataean inscriptions as a place or the object of cultic activities,
and in the Targum Yerushalmī on Genesis 11:4, the root sgd is used to refer
specifically to idol worship or the idol itself [bayt segīdū].^23 An inscrip-
tion from Madā’in Sālih mentions the msgd’ that was built for the god
Sa’bu, and an inscription from Imtan records a msgd’ that was offered “to
Dushara and A ̔ra the god our lord who is in Bosra.”^24 Nabataean inscrip-
tions from Sahwit al-Khidr and the Roman road between Damascus and
Palmyra use msgd’ in reference to columns erected by specific individu-
als.^25 A stele from Bostra is inscribed as “the msgd’ which Yamlik son of
Masku offered to Dhushara A ̔ra for his well-being and the well-being
of his sons.”^26 In other Nabataean inscriptions from Jebel Ithlib, the term
msgd’ is used to refer to a stele carved in relief and niches. Two other
Nabataean inscriptions designate altars dedicated to Ba ̔alshamin and to
Allāt, “the lordess of the place.”^27