RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Their black cloaks and veils hanging neatly in the marble foyer, Omaima Khamis, her sisters and girlfriends gathered in the parlor to eat dates, drink spiced coffee and discuss fashion, family and astrological signs.

No men would enter this world, a world segregated and regulated, like much of Saudi Arabia, by the dictates of 7th-Century Islamic beliefs. Finely dressed and bejeweled, the women sat on plushly upholstered sofas while their children scurried under the feet of attentive Philippine servants who brought silver trays laden with fruits and pastries.

It is a sign of the times in Saudi Arabia that even here, in this sheltered inner sanctum, talk timidly turned to politics, to the prospects of change and, most daringly, to women's rights.

For this is a Saudi Arabia emerging from the brutal jolt of war, a shock that has unleashed unprecedented questioning and searching in a country steeped in religion and tradition. From glistening mosques to sprawling shopping centers to family homes in the desert, Saudis have been forced by the war to examine their nation, their way of life and the Islamic-inspired absolute monarchy that controls both.

"People will rethink a lot of things," predicted Khamis, a 25-year-old literature professor.

Restless progressive Saudis hope the war and its aftermath will become a catalyst for social and political liberalization, for changes that would allow greater public participation in the way the country is run. Powerful religious fundamentalists, on the other hand, jealously struggle to protect the conservative Saudi culture from the Western evils brought by American troops and international attention.

And despite a wartime pledge from King Fahd to permit more democracy, most Saudis and foreign observers say that the ongoing tug of war will continue to dictate the pace of change. "We'll see them take two steps forward," said a Western diplomat, "and one and three-quarters steps backwards."

In fact, the Gulf War with Iraq has only revived a struggle between the forces of tradition and the forces of modernization that is almost as old as Saudi Arabia itself.

Especially in the last two decades, as oil wealth purchased progress, conservative Islam has clashed frequently with moves toward the 21st Century, and the signs of a society in conflict are everywhere.