ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the practice of the law in Saudi Arabia and its development under the leadership of the late King Faisal. By virtue of studying the Shariah law under the auspices of the Arab-American Oil Company in 1952, what immediately struck home as an American Lawyer, was the basic difference in concept between Islamic jurisprudence and Anglo-American jurisprudence. In the United States, laws promulgated and enforced by Government authority and, on the other hand, religious beliefs and obligations laid down by the church or by personal faith to which adherence is based on conscience. The law of Saudi Arabia consists of two parts, the Shariah or divine law, and the 'Regulations'. The Shariah is a word derived from the Arabic verb 'to legislate'. This divine law is comprised from four sources: the first and primary source is the Koran. The 'Sunnah' is the second source. The two remaining but lesser sources of the Shariah are 'Ijma' and 'Qiyas'.
