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1. Universal Participation: A Teacher’s Reflection episode artwork

Mar 3, 2026 18 min

1. Universal Participation: A Teacher’s Reflection

from Wilmette Institute

In the first episode of the Wilmette Institute Podcast Series, host Emily Chou sits down with educator Nika Esmailizadeh to explore the meaning of universal participation in education and community life. What does it truly mean to create spaces where every voice matters? How can teachers cultivate classrooms in which students are not passive recipients of knowledge, but active contributors to learning and collective progress? Drawing from lived experience and reflection, this conversation examines participation not simply as inclusion, but as a shared responsibility — one that calls forth the capacity of every individual to contribute to the advancement of a more just and unified society. This episode is part of our ongoing exploration of the themes at the heart of the Social Transformation Certificate program. Subscribe and join the conversation.

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1. Universal Participation: A Teacher’s Reflection

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Qalam Institute Podcast Qalam Institute Khutbah's, Lectures, & More from Qalam Institute. AbdelRahman Murphy Muslim Central Ustadh AbdelRahman Murphy is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago, with a Bachelor’s in Teaching of English and Religious Studies. He is currently pursuing his Master’s in Mental Health Counseling. He has served as a youth director, Muslim chaplain, and assistant imam in a full-time capacity since 2009.His Islamic studies background includes completing an Imam Certificate Program in Makkah, Saudi Arabia under the mentorship and training of Shaykh Khalid Hilwany. While growing up in the Chicagoland area, he spent two years studying at Riyadh As Saliheen Institute under Shaykhs Ehab Ash-Shaer and Abu Abdullah. While finishing his university studies, he benefitted directly from the training and teaching of Professor Omer Mozaffar in areas of Quran and texts of Imam Ghazali. After graduating with his BA, Ustadh AbdelRahman moved to Dallas, where he began reading classical texts with Shaykh AbdulNasir Jangda. In May of 2014, he formally graduated from the Qalam Seminary’s o Mohammed Hijab Muslim Central Mohammed Hijab is a debater and public speaker who engages in discussions and polemics on a wide variety of topics including religion, politics and society. He completed a Politics degree and a Masters in History from Queen Mary University. He has taught and instructed courses on humanities and languages in many contexts.Mohammed Hijab has numerous Ijazahs in some Islamic sciences and has studied in multiple Islamic seminaries including the Shinqeeti Institute which employs a traditional Mauritanian style of teaching the Sacred Sciences.Mohammed Hijab is currently doing further postgraduate research in Islamic studies at SOAS University of London.

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