For the kids

Built for the Stars.

Alumni who walked these halls, talks worth their time, scholars and mentors they can actually reach, and community events worth showing up to.

Universal School students lined up together in front of the school building

Featured alumni

They sat where you sit.

State Representative Abdelnasser Rashid, Universal School class of 2007 Featured alumnus · Class of 2007

Abdelnasser Rashid

Field: Public service · College: Harvard University (2011), MBA from the University of Chicago (2022) · Now: Illinois State Representative for House District 21 — Bridgeview’s own district — since 2023, after serving as chief policy officer at the Cook County Assessor’s Office and deputy chief of staff to the Cook County Clerk.

Read more →

Worth watching

Talks the fathers vouch for.

Seven Under the Shade of Allah

Dr. Omar Suleiman · Yaqeen Institute · 10 min

Youth in the Quran

Shaykh Sa’ad Quadri · MEC Masjid · 48 min

Found one your kids benefited from? Send it to the WhatsApp group and it lands here.

Scholars & mentors

People worth learning from.

Curated from Kawthar’s scholar directory (kawthar.app), where each profile carries contact details. Cards show the scholar’s own listed focus; open a profile to connect.

Universal School teacher · Palos Islamic Center

Sheikh Moath Alshanti

A Universal School teacher your kids already know — and the sheikh at Palos Islamic Center, minutes from campus.

Profile & contact →
Qur’an & Tajweed · Fiqh · Bridgeview

Shaykh Jafar Hawa

Imam at the Mosque Foundation — Bridgeview’s own masjid, minutes from the school gates.

Profile & contact →
Fiqh · Da’wah · Leadership

Shaykh Jamal Said

Principal Imam & Director of the Mosque Foundation, serving Bridgeview for decades.

Profile & contact →
Fiqh · Bridgeview

Shaykh Walid Qassia

Imam at the Mosque Foundation, a short walk from Universal’s doors.

Profile & contact →
Fiqh · Bridgeview

Shaykh Basheer Abdeen

Imam at the Mosque Foundation — the masjid most of our families call home.

Profile & contact →
Tafsir · Aqeedah · taught at Universal

Dr. Ahmed Arafat

A former Universal School teacher, now Resident Scholar at The Mecca Center (Willowbrook) — Tafsir, aqeedah, and work with new Muslims.

Profile & contact →
Youth & identity · Leadership

Aminah Murrar

Principal of Universal School itself — the person who already knows every student’s name.

Profile & contact →
Youth & identity · Leadership

Haleama Hasan

Dean of Aqsa School, Bridgeview — a lifetime of educating Muslim kids on the same streets.

Profile & contact →
Youth & identity · Qur’an · Fiqh

Imam Sa’ad Quadri

Resident Scholar, Muslim Community Center (MCC) · Morton Grove. Long focused on young Muslims finding their footing.

Profile & contact →
Youth & identity · Da’wah · Spirituality

Sheikh Hassan Natour

Imam & Director of Outreach — the “Youth Imam” — Prayer Center of Orland Park. Orland Park is fifteen minutes from Bridgeview.

Profile & contact →
Youth & identity · Counseling

Shaykh Omar Hedroug

Youth Director, Islamic Center of Naperville. Fiqh and counseling under one roof — the combination teenagers actually need.

Profile & contact →
Youth & identity · Seerah

Shaykh Tariq Musleh

Outreach Director & Imam, The Mecca Center (Willowbrook). Seerah and identity are his listed lane.

Profile & contact →
Youth speaker · Volunteer

Dr. Mohamad Ata

Youth speaker and volunteer at Palos Islamic Center — the closest masjid to campus after our own.

Profile & contact →
Youth & identity · Qur’an

Imam Hisham Al Qaisi

Resident Imam, Islamic Foundation (Villa Park). Youth & identity is his listed focus.

Profile & contact →
Seerah · Islamic history

Ustadh Ubaydullah Evans

Scholar-in-Residence, American Learning Institute for Muslims (ALIM), South Side Chicago. One of the most sought-after young-audience teachers in the city.

Profile & contact →
Islamic history · Arabic

Dr. Firas Alkhateeb

Dean of Faculty & Chair of Humanities, Darul Qasim College (Glendale Heights). History taught as inheritance, not trivia.

Profile & contact →
Qur’an · Tafsir · Hadith

Shaykh Husain Abdul Sattar

Founder & Lead Scholar, Sacred Learning (Lincolnwood). Daily recorded lessons that generations of Chicago students grew up on.

Profile & contact →
Mental health & Islamic psychology

Dr. Hooman Keshavarzi

Founding Director, Khalil Center (Lombard) — counseling grounded in the tradition, for when a teenager needs more than a talk.

Profile & contact →
Marriage & family therapy · Seerah

Alimah Sana Mohiuddin

Female Scholar & Marriage and Family Therapist, Muslim Community Center. A qualified sister for our daughters to talk to.

Profile & contact →
Physician · Seerah

Shaykh Dr. Basharath Alikhan

Hematopathologist at NorthShore and Sacred Learning student of Seerah and spirituality — medicine and the deen, one life.

Profile & contact →
Data scientist · Hadith

Shaykh Zaib Talat

Data scientist and Sacred Learning Hadith student — proof the algos and the ancients fit in one schedule.

Profile & contact →

Every profile on kawthar.app carries its own connection details. Browse the full directory of 150+ scholars →

Youth & community events

What’s happening around town.

Live from kawthar.app, filtered to the organizations our families actually attend: Mosque Foundation (Bridgeview), The Mecca Center (Willowbrook), Muslim Community Center (MCC), Sacred Learning (Lincolnwood), Islamic Center of Wheaton (ICW), and the community-wide feed for conventions and city events. The club curates this list — youth programming from any of them lands here automatically.

Prayer Center of Orland Park, Palos Islamic Center, Darulsalam, and IFS (Villa Park) aren’t publishing through Kawthar yet — when they do, their tabs land here. Open the full community calendar →

On the workbench

What the club is building next.

Mentorship

Ask a professional

One evening a semester where students sit with fathers in medicine, engineering, trades, law, and business — twenty minutes each, honest answers.

College prep

Financial aid night for parents

FAFSA and state aid walk-through for senior families, run by fathers who have already filed it.

Recognition

Student spotlight at meetings

One student’s work featured at each monthly meeting — a project, a competition, a quiet act of service.

Green-light any of these at a monthly meeting and it ships — dates here.

Every program on this page started with a father in a folding chair.

Next meeting: Tue Nov 10 · Multi-Purpose Room