In the recent months, several articles were published in the Saudi press dealing with issues of secularity and the civil state. Prominent among them were two columns by liberal journalist Wafa Al-Rashid in the daily 'Okaz, in which she called to adapt religious perceptions to the spirit of the times and not be afraid of concepts such as secularism, civil state or the separation of religion and state. In the first of these columns, from January 26, 2020, Al-Rashid wrote that the discourse on secularism in the Muslim world is characterized by hypocrisy, because Muslims ban secularism in their own countries and accuse its proponents of heresy, but at the same time welcome the secularism of the West, which is the basis of its tolerance towards members of all faiths, including Muslims. Al-Rashid emphasized that separating religion from the state does not mean abolishing religion or fighting it, and that this notion in fact conforms to certain ideas in the Quran. She urged Muslims to read the religious sources with an enlightened eye and reform their perceptions and interpretations of religious texts.

In her second column, from June 14, 2020 Al-Rashid came out against the conservative circles that oppose the separation of religion and state and insist on burying their heads in the sand and ignoring any reality that contradicts their views. She called to embrace change, religious enlightenment and the application of reasoning in religious interpretation, in order to bring the young generation closer to Islam.

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[memri.org]