No matter how much Saudi Arabia spends on public relations campaigns, for the foreseeable future, its name will probably remain associated with exporting radical Salafist-Wahhabi thought. Its religious tradition stands accused of encouraging terrorism, radicalizing Arab societies, inflaming sectarian conflict and widening the gender gap. Its religious education system and petrodollars have been held responsible for a wide range of conflicts and confrontations across the Arab region and beyond. Stories about its exceptional women occasionally appear to brighten its dark image, but such stories have a short shelf life. The more the government tries to improve the country's image, the more the effort appears contrived and staged for public consumption.

Yet, there is real hope emerging among a new, young and not yet widely known generation of writers who are challenging the fundamental principles of the Saudi religious tradition — namely, dominant Salafist thought. They offer revisionist interpretations of conventional wisdom that promise to inject pluralism into a monolithic worldview long dominated by consent rather than contest. These writers have been invigorated by events across the Arab world during the last three years and have responded to the challenges of a changing political map by producing pamphlets and books in which they articulate new interpretations of the role of Islam in contemporary society. They are not activists, but their ideas circulate among a wide audience, thanks to new media. They publish their books in Beirut, where a Saudi-owned publishing house has been established. Some of these writers are trained in religious studies, while others are aspiring academics and journalists.

The new Saudi writers share a common intellectual cause, which is primarily to deconstruct the religious roots of authoritarian government. They acknowledge that repression can be justified under both secular and religious rule, but in the case of Saudi Arabia, religion provides a much-needed cover for repressive practices ranging from restrictions on freedom of speech and civil society to the lack of political representation, corruption and absolutist rule. These writers do not want a break from Islam, as they remain grounded in its teachings and practices, but they hesitate to raise the banner that says “Islam is the solution.” Instead, they call for something else, something more radical from the perspective of repressive governments.

These Saudis see the solution in the community — that is, the people in all their diversity and unity. One such writer, Abdullah al-Maliki, is a young Hijazi researcher who prefers the slogan “The umma is the solution.” He has faith that the umma cannot be coerced after having recently proven that it is capable of rising up against oppression. He is not under the illusion that the Arab uprisings were motivated by people’s desire to purify religion, Islamize society, ban alcohol or make polygamy legal after being banned (as in Tunisia). The people did not want more Islamic slogans or practices. Rather, they wanted dignity, justice and freedom.