ISLA Leadership Retreat 2026
The Heart of a Leader
Tranquil Hearts Transforming Schools
Two and a half days for Islamic school leaders to step away, reflect and tend the heart they lead with.
Early bird$75 offevery ticket
Until midnight, Friday, October 16
When
December 4–6, 2026
Friday 10:30 am to Sunday 1:00 pm, Eastern
Where
Diyanet Center of America
Lanham, Maryland, near Washington, D.C.
Begins In
00days00hrs00min
Friday, December 4
Until the first morning of the retreat
For
Islamic School Leaders
Heads of school, principals, department heads and teacher leaders
Live on Zoom · Free
Still Deciding?
Retreat Sneak Peek
The Heart of a Leader and Why It Matters
Monday, October 26 · 7–8 pm Eastern (6–7 pm Central)
- The four conditions of the heart
- Program highlights for the weekend
- Why it matters, and a chat with the organizers
Kareem ElsayedKeynote Speaker
Rasha El‑HagganProgram Chair
Dr. Shaza KhanExecutive Director, ISLA
Saira SufiEvents Manager, ISLA
This Year's Theme
This is the life of an Islamic school leader. Sounds familiar?
A teacher you hired in the summer can no longer fulfill her contract. Parents are unhappy about a classroom. The board chair calls. At home, a report card and a parent who needs your care. You barely make Fajr, and while you stand in prayer you are writing the faculty email in your head.
Islamic school leaders carry the academic program, the budget, enrollment and the building, and also the Islamic identity of children, the wellbeing of faculty and the health of a community. Few of us were trained for that. Most of us learned it on the job.
Strategic plans, stronger systems, better governance. All of it is necessary. None of it is sufficient.
What decides how a leader meets these challenges is the condition of the leader’s own heart. The inner work of an Islamic school leader is not a private matter set apart from the school. It is the most consequential instrument we lead with.
The Program
Four Conditions of the Heart
Over two and a half days we sit with four conditions that can quietly weigh on the hearts of Islamic school leaders, and work toward the sound heart, the qalb saleem.
Friday
The Heart on Autopilot
What are we carrying that we have not slowed down long enough to name?
Much of the day is spent moving between whatever is on fire: a staffing gap, a parent in the front office, a teacher who needs us right now.
Take Home: a trigger tracker and a daily pattern map.
Saturday Morning
The Guarded Heart
What would it take to recognize what keeps us guarded?
Protection is learned, and for good reason. After enough hard meetings, we start reading an email with growing dread.
Take Home: a regulation toolbox for the body, the mind and the spirit.
Saturday Afternoon
The Wounded Heart
What are we still carrying, and what would it take to set some of it down?
This work marks us: the parent who made it personal, the child whose home we could not fix. There is no agenda item for that, so we carry it forward.
Take Home: letters to self.
Sunday
The Depleted Heart
When do we plug in, and how do we do it on purpose?
We give from the heart all day. Tazkiyah, muhasabah and our connection to Allah are not extras for after the urgent things. They are the charge.
Take Home: a self-care plan, and a clear view of the ripple your wellbeing sends to your students.
Each session pairs a live coaching demonstration with a practical tool, and a scholar grounds each condition in the Qur’an and the Seerah.
Keynote Speaker
Kareem Elsayed
After careers in medical device development and in learning and development at Google, Kareem burned out and set out to understand why. That search became his own coaching method: a systematic way to understand your inner wiring, see what it produces in the people around you, and resolve what stands in the way.
At the retreat he connects the spiritual heart to the physical one. What we carry in the soul shows up in the body, in what triggers us and what we brace against, so we work both sides: tazkiyah through spiritual practice, and an honest look at our psychosomatic selves.
By Sunday Afternoon
What You Leave With
Words, tools and people for the hard days.
Every session ends with something in your hands. You go home with three things, and here is how each one reaches you.
01
Language
Words for the emotions and patterns that shape how you lead, so you can name what is happening in you with precision rather than calling all of it stress.
How You Get It
Each session teaches it, then shows it at work in a live coaching demonstration with Kareem Elsayed.
02
Tools
Practical ways to work with those emotions in the moment: in a board meeting, a hard parent conversation, or an ordinary Tuesday afternoon.
How You Get It
One take-home tool per session: a trigger tracker and daily pattern map, a regulation toolbox, letters to self, and a self-care plan.
03
Suhba
A circle of Islamic school leaders carrying the same weight, who know the shoes you wear every day, and who you can call in February when it gets hard.
How You Get It
Built over shared meals, prayer together, the bonfire and time to connect, from Friday afternoon to Sunday.
After you return, registrants also receive the session materials and a certificate of participation.
Navigating the Paradoxes of Leadership
Moments from Last Year
The 2025 retreat at the Diyanet Center of America. Select any photo to see it larger.
Why It Matters
A leader's capacity is the ceiling of the school.
Whatever a leader can hold, notice, absorb and give back is the outer limit of what the school can become, and no strategic plan raises that limit. Investing in the leader raises the ceiling itself.
The leader you send sets the temperature of a faculty meeting, decides how a hard conversation goes and whether a strong teacher stays another year, and shapes what a family feels walking through the front door.
When a school invests in the heart and mind of its leader, it is investing in every teacher and every child that leader reaches.”
Imam Tom FacchineResearch Director of Islam and Society, Yaqeen InstituteYour Weekend
We planned it. You just arrive.
Sessions, meals, prayer and lodging options are arranged. Here is what we prepare for you before, during and after the retreat. For day-by-day times, see the schedule.
Ready Now
Before You Arrive
Everything you need to say yes.
- The program, session by session
- Register and pay in one checkout
- Add on-site lodging to your order
- Share dietary needs as you register
- Directions and arrival times
- Add-ons, coming soon
Included with Registration
While You Are There
Sent to registrants before December 4.
- Your full program and session guide
- Prayer times and meals
- Speaker and scholar sessions
Included with Registration
After You Return
Sent to registrants after the retreat.
- Certificate of participation
- A short feedback survey
- Session materials
- Next year's dates, first
Already registered? Your confirmation email has everything you need for now. Questions: events@theisla.org
Schedule at a Glance
Three Days at the Diyanet Center
Day by day, hour by hour. All times are Eastern (EST).
- Optional school visit, with lunch for visitors
- Jumu'ah at Diyanet
- Registration and lodging check-in, until 3:00 pm
- Program begins: The Heart on Autopilot
- Program begins
- The Guarded Heart
- The Wounded Heart
- Day ends
- Program begins: The Depleted Heart
- Retreat concludes, departures
Meals run from Friday dinner through Sunday lunch, with prayers together in the Diyanet Center’s masjid. Your full session guide comes by email before the retreat.
Tickets and Pricing
Register by October 16 and save $75
left at the early bird price
| Regular | Early bird | |
|---|---|---|
| Member school, first ticket | $425 | |
| Member school, each additional ticket | $400 | |
| Non-member | $575 |
Bring your leadership team: each additional member ticket is $400 during the early bird. Not a member school yet? See membership.
Included with Every Ticket
- Workshops from Friday afternoon through Sunday
- Meals from Friday dinner through Sunday lunch
- Optional Friday morning school visit, with lunch
- Bonfire, art, physical activities and time to connect
- Prayer together in the Diyanet Center's masjid
Not included: lodging. On-site rooms can be added to your order, and nearby hotels are listed below.
Where to Stay
Lodging is not included. You have good options.
On-site lodging is extremely limited and offered first come, first served. ISLA has reserved rooms at the Diyanet Center for Friday and Saturday nights, for registrants only. Add yours to your order when you register.
$150per person, both nights
A Bed in a Shared House
One twin bed in a gender-separated house, a short walk from the dining hall, the workshop space and the masjid.
$350per room, both nights
Guest Room, Three Twin Beds
A private or semi-private room in Diyanet's guest houses. Only a handful exist.
$450per room, both nights
Guest Room, Four Twin Beds
A larger private or semi-private room in Diyanet's guest houses. Only a handful exist.
Prefer a Hotel?
These are a short drive from the Diyanet Center. Prices vary, and ISLA has no group rate or discount at these hotels, so please book directly.
Hilton Garden Inn Washington DC/Greenbelt
7810 Walker Drive, Greenbelt, MD 20770
Residence Inn by Marriott Greenbelt
6320 Golden Triangle Drive, Greenbelt, MD 20770
DoubleTree by Hilton Largo/Washington DC
9100 Basil Court, Largo, MD 20774
Diyanet Center of America
An Ottoman-style campus with a masjid, dining hall and multipurpose center, just outside Washington, D.C.
9610 Good Luck Rd
Lanham, Maryland 20706
Nearest airport: BWI (Baltimore/Washington). Arrive Friday between 1:45 and 3:00 pm Eastern for registration and lodging check-in. Parking and arrival details go to registrants by email.
The 2025 retreat community at the Diyanet Center of America.
Questions
Before You Register
Can’t find your answer? Email events@theisla.org and the ISLA team will get back to you.
Who is the retreat for?
All levels of leadership at Islamic schools: heads of school and principals, CEOs and executive directors, curriculum and department leads, and teacher leaders.
Can I bring my leadership team?
Yes, and we encourage it. Member schools pay $475 for each additional ticket, or $400 during the early bird.
Is lodging included?
No. On-site rooms for Friday and Saturday nights can be added to your order, but they are extremely limited and offered first come, first served. Nearby hotels are listed too, at their own prices. See lodging options.
What time zone are the times in?
All retreat times are Eastern. The Sneak Peek webinar on October 26 is 7 to 8 pm Eastern.
What is the Sneak Peek webinar?
A free one-hour webinar on Zoom, Monday, October 26, 7 to 8 pm Eastern, with Keynote Speaker Kareem Elsayed, Program Chair Rasha El-Haggan, Executive Director Dr. Shaza Khan and Events Manager Saira Sufi. It covers the four conditions of the heart at a high level, the program highlights, and why the retreat matters, with time to chat with the organizers. Register free and the Zoom link comes by email.
How do I share dietary needs or allergies?
There is an optional question for each attendee when you register. You can also email events@theisla.org.
Can my organization sponsor the retreat?
Yes. Packages, benefits and how to reserve one are on the 2026 sponsorship page.
Who do I contact with questions?
Email events@theisla.org.
Sponsor the Retreat
Put your organization in the room.
Meet the heads of school, principals and teacher leaders of Islamic schools in person, December 4–6. Five sponsorship packages are offered first come, first served.
Tend the heart you lead with.
December 4–6, 2026 at the Diyanet Center of America. Early bird ends at midnight, Friday, October 16.
The Islamic Schools League of America supports Islamic schools and the leaders who serve them.