El-Sayed Says He Will Likely Swear Into the Senate on a Quran
Michigan Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed said in an NPR interview Thursday that he will likely swear on a Quran when he takes his Senate seat in January, though he has not yet chosen which copy.
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Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed, the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate, told NPR host Leila Fadel on the network’s Newsmakers program that he intends to use a Quran at his swearing-in.
“I will likely swear on a Quran. Which Quran, we’re not sure,” he said in the interview, published Thursday. He added, “So I don’t know, but I’ll swear on the Quran.”
The Democrat defeated Republican Mike Rogers in the Nov. 3 midterm and is scheduled to take office in January 2027.
Two Historic Copies, No Final Choice
El-Sayed named two possibilities. Thomas Jefferson owned a Quran, he said, and Keith Ellison used that copy when he was sworn in to Congress. He also mentioned what he called “the first Quran in the state of Michigan,” held by the University of Michigan, and said that “might be the choice.”
NPR paraphrased him as still deciding between Jefferson’s Quran and “the oldest Quran in his state.”
How Ellison Used Jefferson’s Quran
Ellison, then a Democratic congressman from Minnesota and the first Muslim elected to the House, used Jefferson’s copy in a Jan. 4, 2007, ceremonial re-enactment with Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The official House oath is taken en masse, without a religious text. Jefferson’s book is a two-volume 1764 English translation by George Sale, titled “The Alcoran of Mohammed,” held by the Library of Congress.
The University of Michigan’s library holds early Qur’anic manuscripts, but El-Sayed’s description of one volume as the first Quran in Michigan has not been independently confirmed.
The Oath Is to the Constitution
El-Sayed stressed that the religious book is not what binds a senator. “Whatever my name is, however I pray, it’s not the book that you swear on. It’s the book you swear allegiance to,” he told Fadel, referring to the Constitution. “This document is the reason that, no matter how I pray, that I could run for office and that the folks in my state could elect me.”
The U.S. Constitution bars any religious test for federal office, and the official Senate oath does not require a holy book. Vice President JD Vance is expected to administer the oath to new senators in January. El-Sayed has already needled Vance over that duty, saying there is “a delicious irony” in the vice president being “constitutionally obligated” to swear him in. Days after his win, he launched a political action committee named Habibi PAC, echoing an earlier jab at Vance.
If he uses a Quran in the ceremonial Senate swearing-in, he would be the first U.S. senator reported to do so. House members, beginning with Ellison, have already used a Quran in ceremonial oaths.
Kamer Kurunç
Kamer Kurunç is the Team Leader of Clash Report and has led the outlet for four years. He oversees its breaking world news coverage, from the Middle East and the Russia-Ukraine war to defense and global politics. His focus is fast, verified, source-based reporting. Follow him on X at @kamerknc.
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