them—Allat, Al-Uzza, and Manat—were acclaimed by the pagans of Mecca to be the “daughters of Allah” (53:19–20). The idea that the Almighty God of Creation should cohabit with mortals and produce progeny was anathema to Muhammad. “What! Shall you have sons, and Allah daughters?” he asked in derision (53:21). It was the mission of Muhammad to destroy this kind of idolatry root and branch. It is important to remember that Muhammad was born less than two centuries after Saint Augustine died. The doctrine