JIHAD IN THE BIG APPLE: Zohran Mamdani Will Become First NYC Mayor Sworn In On Quran When He Takes Oath Of Office

When Zohran Mamdani takes office at midnight on Jan. 1, he will become the first mayor of New York City to be sworn in on a Quran, according to city officials.

The initial oath will be administered in a private ceremony shortly after midnight at the long-abandoned Old City Hall subway station. State Attorney General Letitia James will conduct that swearing-in, while Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is scheduled to administer the oath again later in the day during public festivities.

Mamdani plans to use multiple copies of Islam’s holy book during the ceremonies. His spokesperson said the mayor-elect will rely on at least three Qurans across the private and public events.

Among them will be a Quran that belonged to his grandfather, along with another tied to the legacy of writer and historian Arturo Schomburg. That volume is being lent for the occasion by the New York Public Library and will be used during the midnight ceremony.

For the daytime swearing-in outside City Hall, Mamdani will again place his hand on his grandfather’s Quran, along with at least one additional family copy. The New York Times first reported the details, which were later confirmed by Mamdani’s representative.

Mamdani, who will be the first Muslim to lead City Hall, has spoken openly about faith and identity during his campaign. In October, after drawing criticism for appearing in a photograph with a controversial imam, he addressed the issue directly.

“The dream of every Muslim is simply to be treated as any other New Yorker, and yet for too long we have been told to ask for less than that and to be satisfied with whatever little we receive,” the progressive said at the time.

The use of the Schomburg Quran carries additional historical weight. Although Schomburg himself was not Muslim, the text was part of his extensive collection documenting Black history and culture. Born in Puerto Rico in 1874 and later settling in Harlem, Schomburg became a leading figure in promoting African American scholarship and research, according to the New York Public Library.

The selection of that Quran was made by senior advisor Zara Rahim and Mamdani’s wife, Rama Duwaji, working with Hiba Abid, the NYPL’s curator for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, the Times reported.

“It’s a highly symbolic choice because we’re about to have a Muslim mayor swearing in using the Quran but also a mayor who was born on the African continent, in Uganda,” Abid said.
“It really brings together here elements of faith, identity and New York history.”

Recent New York City mayors have frequently chosen religious texts with personal or historical significance for their inaugurations. Eric Adams, who served one term after withdrawing from his re-election bid, was sworn in on a family Bible in 2022 while holding a portrait of his late mother as the New Year’s Eve ball dropped in Times Square.

Bill de Blasio, when beginning his first term in 2014, selected a Bible once owned by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. That historic volume briefly went missing after the ceremony, prompting concern before it was eventually recovered.

Michael Bloomberg, sworn in during the months following the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, placed his hand on the same Jewish Bible he had used at his bar mitzvah, according to a 2002 report.

At the federal level, former House Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota made history in 2007 as the first lawmaker to use a Quran during a congressional swearing-in, a precedent that Mamdani’s inauguration will now echo on the city stage.

{Matzav.com}