The first reason for this “distance” from the is inherent to the itself: by its definition, it is the perfect,divinely-ordained way of life for humanity. As such, it is only divine as an ideal; as soon as it is actualized into a practical system of social relations, it becomes human. This is because such actualization of revelation requires human interpretation. Historically, the Islamic tradition has been keenly aware of this distinction. For example, it is well known that the primary sources of the are the divine scripture (Qur’an) and its elaboration in prophetic teachings (Hadith/Sunna). The actualized law, however, is derived from those two sources by means of hermeneutic tools. This derived law is called fiqh—literally, “human understanding.” Human understanding, it can be argued, is as much at work in living by the as it is in living by the American Constitution and the founding ideals, for example. The essential difference, of course, is that for Muslims, those ideals are given by G

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