After checking that the alert appeared to originate from an official source, the former talk show host shared it with 544,000 Twitter followers. It was a misjudgment that pitched a woman who loves her country deep into an ugly struggle over what it means to be Saudi as the kingdom forges a new identity under its young crown prince.

The story about the mufti was fake. AbuSulayman deleted her post and apologized within minutes, but the damage was done. For several nights, she watched as tweet after tweet claimed she was "scum," "impure" -- she's from the ethnically diverse western region -- and a foreign-funded "traitor" who should be stripped of her citizenship.

Just as notably, the abuse didn't include what's long been the insult of choice in the conservative Islamic kingdom: Infidel. After all, as one of the few high-profile women to appear on TV with her face uncovered during less lenient times, the vivacious 45-year-old challenged gender conventions upheld by hardline clerics.