ABSTRACT
This chapter, the introduction to the book, will present the main task of the study, namely to provide a Kierkegaardian reading of Muhammad Iqbal’s idea of becoming a genuine Muslim. It will reflect on the parallels between the philosophical approaches of Kierkegaard and Iqbal, and argue that, despite certain parallels between their approaches, there is a significant difference between their philosophical stances. Kierkegaard paid much attention to developing an existential dialectics; Iqbal, however, focused mostly on the identification of the problems of the modern Muslim world. As a result Iqbal is not interested in developing his own terminology, and does not provide his readers with a clear idea on becoming a genuine Muslim which is the central issue of his philosophy. This chapter will justify the intention of the book which is to identify and dispel the terminological issues caused by the lack of clarity and ambiguities in Iqbal’s presentation of his idea of becoming a genuine Muslim in the light of a Kierkegaardian hermeneutics. This chapter will also review the literature on Iqbal and what has been written about him in relation to Kierkegaard.
