The Saudi legal system is derived from the legal rules of Islam known as the Shari’a or Islamic law, which is considered by most Muslimsto be divine. Article of the constitutional document, the Basic Law of Governance states that the Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Messenger of God (Prophet Muhammad) are the Kingdom’s constitution.

This means that both the Qur’an and theSunnah, are thesources of law in Saudi Arabia. The first source is the Islamic Law which is availed from the Holy Book of Islam, the Qur’an, and the second is the teachingsand precedents of the Prophet Muhammad which is called the Sunnah. The assertion of this provisionhas been more emphasized in the provisions of Article of the Basic Law where it is expressly stated that the governmental system of Saudi Arabia derives power from the Holy Qur’an and the Prophet’s tradition, and in Article 45 where it is stated that the Holy Qur’an and the Sunnah shall be the main sources of formal legal opinion.

According to Article  of the Basic Law, the ruling regime of Saudi Arabia derives its power from the Holy Qur’an and the Prophet’s Sunnah, which have supremacy over all state laws. Accordingly, the imposition of public policy restrictions within the Kingdom cannot be relied upon to violate Shari’a principles under any circumstances. The Basic Law even emphasises that even a temporary state of emergency during turmoil cannot violate article , which rendersthe Shari’a the only source of regulationin the Kingdom.

In addition to Shari’alaw as the basic source of law, the Saudi Arabian government, from time to time, issues laws and regulations with the objective of supplementing Shari'a when the need arises, which will be discussed in more details in the later part of this Article. These supplementary laws take the form of Royal Decreesand Ministerial Resolutions, which are issued to meet the complexities of modern day living, technological environment and commercialized businesstransactions are valid, insofar as they do not conflict with the principles of Shari’a. These laws and regulations are published in the Official Gazette by the NationalCenter for Documents and Archives, and become law shortly thereafter. The original and authenticated copy of the enacted legislation will then be forwarded to the Information and Studies Center affiliated with the Council of Ministers’ Presidency Chamber, for compilation and records custody.