Mamdani tries to blunt oath attack with non-Muslim's Quran

New Delhi,UPDATED: Jan 1, 2026 15:19 IST

"Sharia law has no place in America," said Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville on December 21 on Zohran Mamdani's plans to be sworn in as the Mayor of New York City. Facing a storm, Mamdani's team tried to counter the opposition with an unusual trick -- a Quran from non-Muslim with a syncretic history. One of the three Qurans used by Mamdani for his oath events was of Black historian and writer Arturo Schomburg.

Mamdani is New York City's first Muslim Mayor. NYC is America's biggest city, and this was the first time that its Mayor took the oath of office on a Quran. The barrage of attacks continued as Mamdani used his grandfather's Quran and the 200-year-old Schomburg Quran for the private swearing-in at an abandoned subway station.

For the later public swearing-in at the New York City Hall, Mamdani planned to use two copies of the Quran belonging to his grandparents. The details of the three "unique" Qurans was shared with The New York Times by according to Mamdani's senior adviser, Zara Rahim.

Mamdani is the son of Indian-American filmmaker Mira Nair and Ugandan-Indian academic Mahmood Mamdani. In fact, the name Mamdani reveals centuries of trade and immigration.

However, that the NYC Mayor would be sworn in on a Quran raised the hackles, particularly in a US that is witnessing sharp divisions over immigration and religion. The use of the holy book of Islam has been projected as a "fall of New York City" even as leaders keep warning of a flood of Muslim immigrants sweeping through Europe and North America.

"Mamdani's allegiance is to Islam, not to America. And we elected this idiot to be Mayor of New York City," Senator Tuberville posted on X in November.

"Allahu Akbar, New York City -- The Surrender Is Complete," wrote journalist-influencer Amy Mek. "Zohran Mamdani takes office. The law was ignored.
After all the hand-wringing, fake outrage, and cable-news theatrics -- yes. He was sworn in on the Quran anyway."

The reaction wasn't just from within the US.

"Invalid oath. No Quran. USA is not Islamic. Yet. Wake up America," posted far-right Dutch leader Geert Wilders.

The outburst was on expected lines, and Team Mamdani had in some ways prepared for it. They hunted for a Quran that could be the best representation of syncretism, a hallmark of New York City.

Mamdani's senior adviser Zara Rahim and his wife Rama Duwaji were looking for a "unique" Quran for his oath ceremony. It was Hiba Abid of the New York Public Library who helped them zero in on the Quran belonging to Arturo Schomburg, according to The New York Times. Abid is the library's curator for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies.

"This marks a significant moment in our city's history, and we are deeply honored that Mayor Mamdani chose to take the oath of office using one of the Library's Qur'ans," a statement by The New York Public Library quoted its President and CEO Anthony W Marx as saying.

The New York Public Library has loaned the Schomburg Quran to Team Mamdani for the oath ceremony. The Quran will also be displayed in public from January 6, according to the New York Public Library.

"Written in black and red ink, the lack of opulent illumination indicates this Qur'an was intended for an ordinary reader and everyday use," it said.

The copy is neither dated nor signed, but the library, going by the "minute naskh script and its binding, featuring a gilt-stamped medallion filled with a floral composition", assumes that it was produced in 19th century Ottoman Syria.

What is interesting is that Arturo Schomburg was not a Muslim but kept the Quran among his vast collection of books and artefacts. The Black writer and historian was born in Puerto Rico in 1874, and the New York Public Library acquired 4,000 of his items in 1926. He died in Brooklyn, New York, in 1938.

Schomburg, going by reports, was raised a Catholic but became a devout Protestant, specifically a member of the Episcopal Church of the United States.

"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, the library curator, told NYT on Team Mamdani's choice of the Schomburg Quran. "It really brings together here elements of faith, identity and New York history."

That is exactly what Zohran Mamdani would have desired to convey even as his team seeks to contain the attacks over the NYC Mayor using the Islamic holy book for his swearing-in ceremony.

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