No Individuality In Sharia Islam

    Irshad Manji in her book, The Trouble With Islam writes: "I propose that, as a
guiding value, we in the West agree on individuality. When we celebrate indivuality, we let most people choose who they are, be they members of a religion, free spirits, or both. For a lot of Europeans, individuality might ring too much of American individualism. It doesn't have to. Individualism- I'm out for myself- differs from individuality-I'm myself, and society benefits from that uniqueness. My question to non-Muslims is this: Do you believe that your 16 million Muslims are capable of contributing as individuals? The question is not whether they're capable, but whether you believe they are.
    I believe Irshad is asking that the Muslims be considered as citizens of the European countries they live in. That cuts both ways, Irshad. The Muslims are not assimilating in my very limited knowledge. They are staying Somali Muslims, Ethiopian Muslims, etc. Which is normal. Birds of a feather like to flock together. It reassuring and comfortable with people like yourself instead of being with diverse people who share nothing with you but the air you breathe. It's going to take a long time to assimilate with the Europeans especially if it is forbidden by Islam and the immans.
    Irshad, I was dismayed to read that you think individualism, especially in America means "I'm out for myself." I am a born American, and that's not how I define it, so I looked at it at Internet Oxford Dictionary. It reads that individualism is" the idea that each person should think and act independently rather than depending on others." The example is "Americans believe strongly in individualism." That means we think and act on our own thought process, instead of being forced to think and act like others. It has nothing to do with being out for myself in the context of getting something from others. It means being "in" for yourself -making your mind up yourself not being made to think certain things by others. Or being made to think everything by the dictates of Sharia law and Islam and hadiths and fatwas and your parents. We are free persons. That is the end of it. And it's not because society benefits from it. That is not a criterion for our freedom. You are still thinking like a Muslim, like a collectivist.
    Peter Nickerson, Philosophy Major, Class of '68, College of William and Mary,
Williamsburg, Virginia.