Becoming a Genuine Muslim

<p>Despite the apparent lack of any cultural and religious connection between Kierkegaard and Iqbal their philosophical and religious concerns and their methods of dealing with these concerns show certain parallels. </p><p></p><p>This book provides a Kierkegaardian reading of Muhammad Iqbal’s idea of becoming a genuine Muslim. It reflects on the parallels between the philosophical approaches of Kierkegaard and Iqbal and argues that though there are certain parallels between their approaches there is a significant difference between their philosophical stances. Kierkegaard was concerned with developing an existential dialectics; Iqbal however focused mostly on the identification of the problems of the modern Muslim world. As a result Iqbal’s idea of becoming a genuine Muslim – the practical aspect of his thought and one of the most central issues of his philosophy – seems to be unclear and even contradictory at points. This book therefore uses the parallels between the two philosophers' endeavours and the notions developed by Kierkegaard to provide a strong hermeneutical tool for clarifying where the significance of Iqbal’s idea of becoming a Muslim lies.</p><p></p><p>By bringing together two philosophers from different cultural traditional and religious backgrounds this book will appeal to students and scholars of Comparative Politics Contemporary Islamic Philosophy and the Philosophy of Religion.</p>