ABSTRACT
This chapter will examine Iqbal’s method of cultivating existential appropriation on the part of his reader in the light of the Kierkegaardian hermeneutics. Applying Kierkegaard’s method to Iqbal’s thought will enable the clarification and interpretation of Iqbal’s perception of Islam as an existential phenomenon, and the human being’s movement towards becoming a genuine Muslim before God. This chapter will begin with Iqbal’s authorship and his use of poetry in the service of his philosophy which will be read in the light of Kierkegaard’s literary method and ‘indirect communication’. It will continue with uncovering Iqbal’s emphasis on the existential relationship to Islam in the development of the self. Here, the Iqbalian notions clarified with the help of the Kierkegaardian principle of making distinctions such as religious experience and love will also be used in order to uncover Iqbal’s view of becoming a Muslim.
