The Islamic ruling on holding meetings in an Islamic center with non-Muslim was well explained by Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, who said:
“It is indeed a great idea to invite people of other faiths to the center in order to expose them to the true teachings of Islam and in order to build bridges of understanding. It is however best that such activities are held in the community center rather than in the main prayer hall itself, although there is nothing wrong in doing so as long as no rituals associated with shirk are carried out. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) invited Christians to his mosque in order to have dialogue with them; then when it was time for prayer, he allowed them to pray in their own way, while Muslims performed salah. Through this initiative, he already set a precedent for us how to carry out the Qur’anic call to enter into a dialogue with the People of the Book in the most gracious manner as clearly stated in the Qur’an.
While organizing such activities, however, I think it important that we pay attention to the following:
1. The spokesman representing Islam on such occasions should be someone who is thoroughly grounded in Islam, while being aware of the teachings of other religions, and able to communicate well in English;
2. We should prepare information packages that are presentable: Packages from Discover Islam series, Cair-America gift bundles, etc. are excellent for such purposes;
3. It is important that, in such gatherings, we stress the common themes of One God, joining partnerships for projects of virtue and good such as the following: Fighting drugs, crimes, homelessness, poverty, world peace, anti-war, etc.
When done in good spirit and with sound Islamic intentions, such activities are not only permissible but also highly recommended.”