U.S. Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed, a Michigan Democrat, said in an NPR interview released Thursday that he plans to take his oath of office on the Quran. El-Sayed will be the first Muslim elected to the US Senate.
“I will likely swear on a Quran,” El-Sayed said. He said he has not decided which copy he will use. He mentioned Thomas Jefferson’s copy of the Quran and another Quran held by the University of Michigan, which he described as “the first Quran in the state of Michigan.”
Jefferson bought a copy of the Quran while studying law in 1765. In 2007, US Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., used Jefferson’s copy when he took his oath of office. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani also took his oath of office in January with his hand on the Quran.
El-Sayed’s oath plans come after questions during the campaign about Sharia and alleged connections to the Muslim Brotherhood. His campaign confirmed in August that he complied with Sharia law in his personal life. He has repeatedly denied or deflected claims that he or relatives had connections to the Muslim Brotherhood.
