A question can sometimes be asked - if we are all individuals with individual needs, thoughts and lives, why is prayer a ritual which we all adhere to in a similar fashion?

There are small differences in how to pray that people use, but overall, the main fardh actions are the same and all the different forms of prayer are recogniseable as forms of prayer.

So where is the space for individual expression?

Here, there are two issues.

one is that in dua there is no such rigidity, just in salaah.

The second issue is of purpose.

A purpose of Prayer is to remember God (swt) and try to remember him in all His glory.

Individualism is for equals - it is how equals differentiate between themselves, but prayer is to remember that compared to God we are less than tiny. We are creation.

A third part (yes, I know I said two. look up the spanish inquisition clip from Monty Python) is putting ourselves into a specific mindset - that infront of God we are NOT egotistical enough to think we know better, so in prayer we do how we are taught to pray, which is the best way as was revealed to and practiced by the Prophet (saw).

In this third regard, individualism is actually opposing a purpose of prayer.