Who are you?
It is not a conventional question that one asks in day to day affairs. However, it is food for thought for those who ponder which culture or group of people to fit into, or even governments that need to incorporate the immigrant population into their social strata. Nevertheless, it is a very important question that everyone asks themselves knowingly or unknowingly, which essentially gives basis to their likes and dislikes, personality and a sense of belonging to a community.
So, the answer to the question above can be answered in a variety of ways ranging from a name or a nationality to a certain political belief. All of these are correct if answered in a certain context, but to inform the other person sitting in front of you (and also for yourself to a certain degree) your answer should encompass an identity that will offer a comprehensive outlook of what you represent and strive to preserve. Why is that relevant? To put it simply, because it will help in guiding you through those ethical dilemmas, or during a period of life when you are located in a strange environment. It will help give you a sense of direction and purpose while you are entrapped in a “hand to mouth” lifestyle.
When there are individuals in a society who are unable to attain an identity, this not only becomes a problem for the individual but for all of society at large as well as those responsible for the smooth running of society, the government. There will be phases any individual may undergo in an attempt to define himself and ultimately be content, but unfortunately there are many identities the media, friends, work colleagues, celebrities, politicians and parents impose on the person. As a consequence these multitudes of identities will lead to actions which lead to actions riddled with contradictions and ultimately result in misery and depression. The multiple identities become the yard stick by which you will measure progress, and because you have different identities (i.e. criteria) you will inevitable fail in one of them.
Giving a vignette to the above blurb will help spell out what I am trying to explain.
Imagine a person X that comes to the UK when he is a young teenager. His background is that he is born to a conservative family, is familiar sub-continent culture and has come from a rather closed environment. Imagine the disruption caused by the society he has entered upon varying from open kissing on the streets to the individualistic sentiments expressed by everyone in one form or another. Eventually he will encounter criticisms from peers, whether it is from college students to work colleagues or even MPs, about certain values or actions that he performs from day to day.
The person starts to evolve his already existing identity to a more palatable one for the society he lives in. This can vary from hanging in the secular–liberal crowd (which his parents might dislike) to a drug taking-gangster crowd where the law might have problems. Now who appears to be affecting the impressionable youths of society? This individual will feel the contradictions in his action and emotions, he will have to tear away from his old self and re-invent himself so he can be accepted in the host community. Every human wants to belong to something, and this provides him the justification to abandon all of his roots which gave birth to his values, personality and loyalty to a community.
This basically boils down to what are the core fundamental beliefs the individual carries about life. As this will define who he is, why and what is to come, establishing answers to these questions with conviction will lead to a comprehensive identity. A person who has no purpose, no knowledge of why he exists or what he stands for will eventually be lost with no fixed identity and shall be throughout his/her life chasing someone else’s identity with no real hope of finding happiness in the long run.
As Muslims, it is clear where the source of our identity originates from and that is the Qur’an. Thus if 
someone insults out beloved prophet (saw), that means they have insulted our identity. If someone belittles or ridicules Allah’s(swt) Laws, that translates into mocking our identity. If a nation attacks another nation populated with Muslims, it is seen as an act of war on our identity. If a nation is suppressing another nation by propping up a dictator on its population, that means it suppresses our identity.
So for those people who do not understand Muslim sentiments on the above scenarios, ask yourself the question if someone insulted your identity in society how would you feel?
