Saudi author and journalist Fahd Al-Ahmadi, who writes a column for the government daily
Al-Iqtisadiyya, recently sparked a heated debate among Saudis on Twitter by proposing a change to the Saudi national flag. The flag in its present form features the
shahada (the Islamic declaration of faith, "There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is His messenger") and beneath it a sword. Al-Ahmadi proposed to remove the sword, arguing that it does not suit the current age and also goes against the spirit of the Quran, which states that there is no coercion in religion. He also proposed that removing the sword will help to rebuff claims that associate Islam with violence. He added that many countries have changed their flags over the years, and that the Saudi flag itself has gone through several permutations, some of which did not include the sword.