In addition to the Friday sermons and daily lectures, center services include issue of certificates for some 150 new Muslims every year and follow up on their religious education and orientation. It also helps the unemployed among these people to find modest jobs. Across New York, some 15,000 people convert to Islam every year with help of 300 mosques, he said.
The center also arranges for official certification of Islamic marriage contracts by the US authorities. This is in addition to regular meetings and dialogue sessions with Jewish and Christian religious figures to discuss cooperation.
For the holy month of Ramadan, the center hosts Iftar banquets at both locations and serves some 700 meals a day.
In comment over reports that police is spying on Mosques across New York, Al-Amiri said, "We have met with police officials and told them we have nothing to hide, that our mosques are open to all, and that focus there is on enabling Muslims to practice their religious rites and to educate them on matters of their faith. We also pointed out that we do not allow any external party to collect donations at our facilities or to discuss political matters." Moving on to the center's school, he said it was opened by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in 2009 and is the only Islamic school in Manhattan. The school has facilities seen in few other places and imposes nominal fees for enrolment. A quarter of the students are children of diplomats, including two Japanese girls whose mother embraced Islam after marrying a Syrian.
The records show that 17 students only were registered from pre-school to high school classes in 2011, and that the numbers are up this year with 130 students till fifth grade. The teachers attend training courses, the teaching method is compatible with other New York schools, and the certificates issued by the school are recognized in New York and the whole United States, he stressed.
In addition to math, sciences, social studies, arts, English, and physical education, the students have Arabic language classes with teachers who are Azhar graduates and Islamic studies with teachers who are graduates of the Islamic University of Madina, Saudi Arabia, the figure noted.
There are also week-end classes where over 400 Muslim students are taught on religion, Arabic, and Quran recitation and memorization. Classes are also available for parents and caretakers where focus is on Fiqh and Hadith sciences.