PROPHETIC PEDAGOGY: A PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
FOR ISLAMIC SCHOOL EDUCATORS AND LEADERS
Professional Development Day for Masjid-Based Educational Programs Supporting Effective Teaching and Spiritual Well-Being
Sunday, August 16, 2026
10:00 am –2:15 pm ET
Designed for educators, administrators, and volunteers serving in weekend schools, Hifz programs, adult education classes, and other masjid-based learning environments.
FOR ISLAMIC SCHOOL EDUCATORS AND LEADERS
Professional Development Day for Masjid-Based Educational Programs Supporting Effective Teaching and Spiritual Well-Being
Sunday, August 16, 2026
10:00 am –2:15 pm ET
Designed for educators, administrators, and volunteers serving in weekend schools, Hifz programs, adult education classes, and other masjid-based learning environments.
Program Description
Masjid-based educators teach learners with a wide range of ages, abilities, backgrounds, and spiritual needs—often within limited instructional time and with few formal resources. This professional development day will offer practical and Islamically grounded strategies for creating educational environments in which students and teachers can flourish.
Through three interactive sessions, participants will explore positive behavior management for diverse learners, meaningful ways to integrate the Seerah into everyday instruction, and strategies for nurturing the spiritual and mental well-being of both students and faculty.
Participants will leave with ideas and practices they can immediately adapt for their own classrooms, programs, and masjid communities.
Who Should Attend?
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the program, participants will be better prepared to:
Through three interactive sessions, participants will explore positive behavior management for diverse learners, meaningful ways to integrate the Seerah into everyday instruction, and strategies for nurturing the spiritual and mental well-being of both students and faculty.
Participants will leave with ideas and practices they can immediately adapt for their own classrooms, programs, and masjid communities.
Who Should Attend?
- Weekend and Sunday school teachers
- Hifz teachers and program directors
- Adult education instructors
- Islamic studies and Qur’an teachers
- School administrators and board members
- Classroom assistants and volunteers
- Youth educators and mentors
- Parents involved in masjid educational programming
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the program, participants will be better prepared to:
- Use positive and inclusive approaches to student behavior.
- Recognize and respond to diverse learning and developmental needs.
- Integrate the Seerah into classroom routines and multiple subject areas.
- Connect Prophetic teachings to students’ everyday experiences.
- Support the spiritual, emotional, and mental well-being of learners.
- Strengthen faculty wellness and reduce educator stress and burnout.
- Create more compassionate, accessible, and spiritually nurturing masjid learning environments.
Schedule
10:00–11:15 a.m.
Positive Behavior Management for Diverse Learners with Saja Salih
This session will introduce positive and inclusive approaches to behavior management, with particular attention to students with disabilities, neurodivergent learners, and children with differing developmental and learning needs. Participants will consider how behavior can communicate an unmet need and learn practical strategies for creating structured, supportive, and responsive learning environments.
11:15–11:30 a.m. — Break
11:30 a.m.–12:45 p.m.
Integrating the Seerah into Daily Routines and Lessons with Assad Koshul
The Seerah should be more than a separate subject or collection of historical events. This session will explore how the life and example of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ can be meaningfully woven into classroom routines, relationships, lesson content, and everyday decision-making. Participants will develop age-appropriate ways to help students connect the Seerah to their own lives and cultivate love for the Prophet ﷺ.
12:45–1:00 p.m. — Break
1:00–2:15 p.m.
Nurturing the Spiritual and Mental Well-Being of Students and Faculty with Shaykh Abdalla Idris Ali
Healthy Islamic educational communities attend to the hearts and well-being of both learners and educators. This session will examine how masjid-based programs can support spiritual formation, emotional resilience, belonging, and mental wellness.
10:00–11:15 a.m.
Positive Behavior Management for Diverse Learners with Saja Salih
This session will introduce positive and inclusive approaches to behavior management, with particular attention to students with disabilities, neurodivergent learners, and children with differing developmental and learning needs. Participants will consider how behavior can communicate an unmet need and learn practical strategies for creating structured, supportive, and responsive learning environments.
11:15–11:30 a.m. — Break
11:30 a.m.–12:45 p.m.
Integrating the Seerah into Daily Routines and Lessons with Assad Koshul
The Seerah should be more than a separate subject or collection of historical events. This session will explore how the life and example of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ can be meaningfully woven into classroom routines, relationships, lesson content, and everyday decision-making. Participants will develop age-appropriate ways to help students connect the Seerah to their own lives and cultivate love for the Prophet ﷺ.
12:45–1:00 p.m. — Break
1:00–2:15 p.m.
Nurturing the Spiritual and Mental Well-Being of Students and Faculty with Shaykh Abdalla Idris Ali
Healthy Islamic educational communities attend to the hearts and well-being of both learners and educators. This session will examine how masjid-based programs can support spiritual formation, emotional resilience, belonging, and mental wellness.
WORKSHOP INSTRUCTORS
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Saja Salih, M.Ed. is a Special Education Department Chair with Fairfax County Public Schools and an educational leader with over 20 years of experience supporting students with diverse learning needs. She has served as a special education teacher, instructional leader, mentor, and professional development facilitator, leading trainings on Universal Design for Learning (UDL), inclusive practices, behavior management, executive functioning, special education, and culturally responsive instruction.Beyond her work in public education, Saja has been actively involved in Islamic education for many years as a teacher, curriculum developer, and advocate for inclusive masjid and weekend school programs. She is passionate about helping educators create welcoming learning environments where every child can grow academically, socially, and spiritually. Her work is grounded in the belief that every learner deserves access, opportunity, and a sense of belonging, and that educators have the power to remove barriers and help every student thrive.
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Assad Koshul is an educator, leadership trainer, and thought igniter whose work focuses on transforming mindsets to meet the challenges of the modern world through the lens of Islamic values, intellectual integrity, and strategic thinking. Assad has developed a groundbreaking curriculum that blends insights from Islamic tradition, cognitive science, leadership development, and contemporary culture. His mission is to empower Muslims, especially youth and professionals to move beyond reactive and emotional responses and instead cultivate analytical thinking, emotional intelligence, and strategic foresight. Assad is the founder of Criterion Concepts LLC, Malcolm X Visionary LLC and Game Changer Mindsets LLC. Assad has developed the instructional design and methodology for all three companies. Assad is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), holds a Certified Professional in Talent Development (CPTD) credential, is PROSCI Change Management Certified, and is SCRUM Certified, among other qualifications. He is also trained in cultural transformation and leadership, and has conducted executive
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Dr. Abdalla Idris Ali was born in Sudan and immigrated to Canada in 1977 as a graduate student at the University of Toronto, pursuing his Ph.D. in International Relations. His work in education began as a teacher of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the Islamic Centre of Toronto. He was then appointed as director of education, and later became Imam and director for twenty years. In 1982, he laid down the foundation of the first full-time Islamic school in Canada and served as the Principal of the Islamic Community School For more than 19 years. He was later appointed to the Executive Council of the Islamic Society of North America and then elected to its consultative body. This led him to serving as President of ISNA from 1992 through 1997. He is also a founding Board member of the Council of Islamic Schools in North America where he developed and implemented Islamic and Arabic Studies curricula for elementary and junior high students. In 1998, he moved to the United States as a curriculum consultant to the Universal Foundation, and then was appointed Director at the Center for Islamic Education in North America (CIENA) in Kansas City, Missouri. He also became a member of the Board of Trustees I.B.E.R.R., a unique organization headed by Yusuf Islam, which served minority communities in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Britain, South Africa and Nigeria. Upon returning to Canada in 2008, he started serving as the Secretary General of ISNA Canada. He previously chaired the ISNA Education Forum that attracts more than 250 schools and close to a thousand teachers every year. In 2017 became the Director of Outreach and Community Development. Currently, he serves as the Senior Community and Religious Adviser at ISNA Canada.
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ABOUT THE PROGRAM
Prophetic Pedagogy explores the teaching styles of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) as found in the Qur'an and Sunnah, and complements them with contemporary research on teaching and learning for an Islamic school context.
Prophetic Pedagogy project seeks to provide Islamic school educators with tools, practices, and concepts to help shape education within Islamic schools today. We want educators to be fully equipped to teach the Message of Allah in a global context that doesn’t support faith-based identities, just as the Prophet experienced. We want educators to lead the youth in understanding how to resist oppression and disrupt injustices around them, just as the Prophet demonstrated. And we want educators to be fully engaged in the realities of today’s context, just as the Prophet was fully engaged in his contextual reality. Our educators need to be able to teach students through technology, who struggle with their identity, and who face challenges with social norms and practices. We feel that with a systematic examination of the Prophet’s pedagogy, we will be able to advance teaching practices that can transform today’s Islamic schools to be the schools that Muslims need in today’s day and age.
PROGRAM DIRECTORS
Shaykh Abdalla Idris Ali, PhD served as imam and director, and founded the first full-time Islamic school in Toronto, Canada. He served as the principal of ISNA Islamic Community School for 17 years. He also served on ISNA’s Executive Council, Majlis Ash-Shura, Youth and Education Committee and as president of ISNA for two terms. He is the chair of the Islamic Media Foundation, a member of NAIT Board, a founding member of CISNA, and chair of ISNA Education Forum. Sheikh Abdalla was appointed director for CIENA in Kansas City, Missouri. He served on the board of trustees of IBERR, which serves minority communities. He is currently working as Senior Community and Religious Advisor at ISNA Canada.
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Rehenuma Asmi, PhD is an executive board member of CICW, and a convener of teacher training program. She received her bachelors from Georgetown University with double majors in Arabic and Government. Dr. Asmi completed her Masters in Teaching from American University and her PhD in Anthropology and Education from Columbia University Teachers College. She served as Assistant Professor of Religion and Education at Allegheny College from 2013-7. Dr. Asmi's research interests are in the areas of bilingual education, education policy and socio-cultural effects of education on Muslim family life.
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Amaarah DeCuir, EdD, is a faculty member at American University in the School of Education. She is an Executive Board member with the Center for Islam in the Contemporary World. Recently, Dr. DeCuir served as an Advisor in the Office of the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Education, supporting the Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Her scholarship spans the areas of antiracist pedagogy, Muslim student experiences, Prophetic pedagogy, faith erasure, equity, antiracism and social justice, education leadership, teacher education, and faculty development. She is the co-author Faith Honoring: Making the case for faith-inclusive pedagogy with Academic Studies Press. She brings over 30 years of teaching and leadership experiences from public and private K-12 schools to inform her current work in higher education.
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