There is currently in Saudi Arabia a tug-of-war between the intellectuals whose call is to stop the ideological warfare and those who have dubbed them ‘anti-nationalists’. Saudi Arabia is witnessing fierce a fierce ‘war of words’ between religious scholars rightwing conservatives intellectuals columnists and those who call themselves liberal.

I opted to quit the battleground although I was involved earlier in the stupid conflicts of these movements which I called a ‘Shepherd’s comedy’. I still remember the face of a government official watching on a big screen TV two representatives of different movements accusing each other. Both were showing papers condemning each other. Both were showing their keenness for the nation but sometimes they claimed that the regime was their opponent. It resembled two cocks in competition. So the officials laughed to make the audience laugh sitting with them and saying “let them fight- they are burning themselves”. But in fact all groups are burning this nation through this conflict including those who encourage it and leave the matter without resolution causing illusory divisions.

This forces the ‘tribes’ to adopt a policy of fighting over very minor things instead of the real problem which is the cost of living in Saudi Arabia at the moment. They fight about the rights of grazing animals whether to cultivate fodder or import it; and the economic feasibility of breeding millions of camels in a country whose natural resources have been used up one or two decades ago. They prefer to fight over issues that have already been sorted out by countries much smaller than Saudi Arabia.

It is not a good time for such conflicts. The Kingdom is witnessing wars on two fronts and the public are worried about their security and economy as the people have gradually begun to feel the impacts of the wars and the decline in oil prices.

Among these situations has appeared the case of a girl standing on the pavement who was asked by one of the members of the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice to cover her face. The incident was documented by someone and went viral on social media and turned into a public opinion issue. Newspapers also began to criticize the committee and its practices worsening the already bad relations with the committee. It was not possible for the media to ignore the incident of the pulling of the girl in the street and not cover it. The committee and its supporters viewed this as the media hunting for minor issues emphasizing that without the active role of the committee Saudi society has already became corrupted.

The media confrontation between the two sides has increased and social media has fueled the differences. Imams and preachers have also become involved in the case and each side has now started to insult the other without restraint.

Media personalities columnists and TV program presenters successfully raised important points against the committee which has tried to retaliate but this made some parties call for it to have its powers revoked and to put it under the Ministry of the Interior.

Saudi society which is already anxious has become divided over this issue which is focused around old questions left without answers for quite long time. The issue is about identity pluralism personal freedom and its limitations.

Although the committee is a government body and it is under the cabinet it has strong public supporters within Saudi society especially those who believe that it reflects their view about how society must be. Those supporters are enthused and characterized by intolerance which made the government issue tens of directives to control their enthusiasm and to prevent their control over people. This segment of society believe that they own the facts and their extreme interpretation of Sharia law is that it is their right and their duty not only to explain what is correct to the people but to impose it on them.

So they took revenge on a famous presenter of the programs Ali Al Alyan. They accused him of taking liquor. They pictured him with drink cans beside him and tied hands (showing caught red-handed for drinking). It was a case of defamation a clear breach of all laws and rules. That night they could have caught many other perpetrators of this crime even in this very city. However it became necessary to show that the culprit was a famous media person to send the message what they wanted to serve their vested interests. He was acquitted after the probe but the defamation took place and the harm had been done.

Our media is making holes in the very ship they are boarding. The columnists have made severe attacks. Tens of columns have been written highlighting the same point: blaming the authority for breaching the privacy of homes and spying on people. Everyone is talking about religion. Ironically when they fight they do not resort to religion. Instead some people raise their voices to say “Terrorists did not come from the media house but IS emerged among your group!” Demands are made to eradicate extremism. An official interfered to stop a person from writing a column and to remove him from his position. But the main problem was not solved.

Years ago in a session of the State Cabinet at the time of late King Abdullah the Cabinet spoke out to ensure “the people have right to have different opinions” as if the late King left it as a slogan for us. It would be good if we could follow this and put it into practice in our daily life making it a part of our culture and education but we have not done this yet.

What has happened and is happening now is that there is an ideological war among Saudi tribes which confirms that there is a need for some system to protect the rights of people when they differ. The system should be based on Islamic law not on human made law. A single school of thought does not exist in the Saudi community which is enriched by having multi-cultural and varied types of jurisprudence. Islamic law is based on Ejtihad (diligent independent reasoning) stretching from Sumatra to Casablanca. The civilization of Islam and its jurisprudence and schools of thought as well date back over 1400 years. It is a huge and rich library and we have to dig deep to find answers for the modern age but unfortunately we are standing on a single shelf.

Until then I wish that our friends would stop writing and creating arguments about the topics of authority and identity. As long as they write the matter seems to go from bad to worse. Then there would be no more argument to add to their arguments.

The issues of identity rights and freedoms are directly related to the lives of officials and citizens and not just to the conflict over one case. So the officials cannot reply that this is not their decision when they are asked “When will women be allowed to drive?”

Looking at the heated arguments within our community on this subject we should stop the arguments and take a decision. The decision makers should listen to the people’s plea to issue a command- broadminded or narrow-minded religion openness or hesitation.

Once my protest has stopped people will breathe a sigh of relief. I have convinced myself that this will be the last column from me on “the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice” (Saudi Arabia’s morality police). Enough is enough there will be no more!

The writer is a Saudi Arabian journalist columnist and author and the General Manager and Editor-in-Chief of Al Arab News Channel.