What is "al-lat"

Allat, also spelled Allatu, Alilat, , and ( ) is the name of a goddess worshipped in pre-Islamic Arabia. Together with Manāt and al-‘Uzzá, she was one of the three chief goddesses of Mecca. Her name, which is Arabic for the Goddess appears to indicate that she was the pre-Islamic consort of Allah, and therefore the Arabic equivalent of Elat or Asherah, the traditional consort of the Semitic god El. In older sources, she is identified with the Sumerian goddess Ereshkigal. The Greeks equated her with Athena and Aphrodite.

The shrine and temple dedicated to al-Lat in Taif was demolished on the orders of Muhammad, during the Expedition of Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, in the same year as the Battle of Tabuk (which occurred in October 630 AD). The destruction of the idol was a demand by Muhammad before he would allow any reconciliation to take place with the tribes of Taif, who were under his siege.