“Sharia law has no place in America,” Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville said on December 21, reacting to Zohran Mamdani’s plans to be sworn in as the Mayor of New York City. As criticism mounted, Mamdani’s team responded in an unexpected way — by choosing Qurans with a layered, non-sectarian history for his oath-taking ceremonies.
One of the three Qurans selected belonged to Arturo Schomburg, a noted Black historian and writer who was not a Muslim. The choice, Mamdani’s aides said, was deliberate.
Mamdani has made history as New York City’s first Muslim mayor. As the mayor of the largest city in the United States, he also became the first to take the oath of office on a Quran — a move that drew intense backlash, particularly in an America already deeply polarised over immigration, religion and identity.
The criticism intensified after Mamdani used his grandfather’s Quran and the nearly 200-year-old Schomburg Quran during a private swearing-in ceremony held at an abandoned subway station. For the subsequent public ceremony at City Hall, Mamdani planned to use two Qurans belonging to his grandparents. Details of the three “unique” Qurans were shared with The New York Times by Mamdani’s senior adviser, Zara Rahim.
The controversy was perhaps inevitable. Mamdani, the son of Indian-American filmmaker Mira Nair and Ugandan-Indian academic Mahmood Mamdani, carries a surname shaped by centuries of migration and trade. Yet it was his decision to swear the oath on Islam’s holy book that triggered outrage among conservative voices.
“Mamdani’s allegiance is to Islam, not to America. And we elected this idiot to be Mayor of New York City,” Tuberville wrote in a post on X in November.
Right-wing commentator Amy Mek echoed the sentiment, writing, “Allahu Akbar, New York City — the surrender is complete.” She later added, “After all the hand-wringing, fake outrage, and cable-news theatrics — yes, he was sworn in on the Quran anyway.”
The backlash crossed borders as well. Far-right Dutch leader Geert Wilders posted, “Invalid oath. No Quran. USA is not Islamic. Yet. Wake up America.”
Mamdani had faced similar attacks during his mayoral campaign, including from former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, over his faith and identity. He responded by openly embracing his Muslim identity, reigniting debates around Islamophobia in New York’s political discourse.
Anticipating the reaction, Mamdani’s team sought a Quran that reflected New York City’s syncretic and multicultural ethos. Zara Rahim and Mamdani’s wife, Rama Duwaji, searched for a copy that carried broader historical symbolism. Their search led them to the New York Public Library and, ultimately, to the Quran once owned by Arturo Schomburg, with the help of Hiba Abid, the library’s curator for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, The New York Times reported.
“This marks a significant moment in our city’s history, and we are deeply honoured that Mayor Mamdani chose to take the oath of office using one of the Library’s Qurans,” the New York Public Library quoted its president and CEO, Anthony W. Marx, as saying.
The Schomburg Quran has been loaned to Mamdani’s team for the oath ceremony and will be put on public display from January 6. The library described the manuscript as written in black and red ink, without ornate illumination, suggesting it was intended for everyday use rather than ceremonial display.
Although undated and unsigned, the Quran is believed to have been produced in 19th-century Ottoman Syria, based on its script and binding.
What makes the choice particularly striking is that Schomburg himself was not a Muslim. Born in Puerto Rico in 1874, Schomburg was raised Catholic and later became a devout Protestant, eventually joining the Episcopal Church. The New York Public Library acquired around 4,000 items from his personal collection in 1926. He died in Brooklyn in 1938.
“It’s highly symbolic,” Abid told The New York Times. “We have a Muslim mayor swearing in on a Quran, a mayor born on the African continent, and a book owned by a Black historian who shaped New York’s intellectual history. It brings together faith, identity and the city’s past.”
That symbolism appears central to Mamdani’s message — even as his team works to blunt the political attacks surrounding his decision to use the Islamic holy book for his oath of office.