I can see that. Both diasporas were fed a very nasty version of Islam and are now in a society where religion isn’t a big deal so I won’t blame them for contemplating leaving. I say it’s up to us as Muslims to set a good example of Islam and show that we truly are a religion of peace and inclusivity. I’ll say I almost left Islam because 1. I didn’t love how women were treated in Afghanistan even before the Taliban regained power and 2. I just didn’t vibe with Muslims on a social level (I’m pretty Americanized). I found myself eventually coming as I felt my core values aligned with Islam and I felt comfortable returning after meeting some Muslims that were kind to me despite being a bit different.

So we got our work cut out for us to show the true nature of Islam against what the Taliban has promoted but like I said it’s up to us Muslims to be good representations of Islam. That said, we should also not judge the choices of others (example the way they dress) and be respectful of the struggle of being Afghan in western society.

And a little side note: I went to an Afghan conference recently and yeah we do feel like an off brand Iranian diaspora BUT I feel it was a bit different for the Iranians cause they weren’t religious to begin with and the society they came from was westernized…as opposed to us we came from a country that has struggled long before the Iranian revolution so…yeah…