The next mayor will use an edition that symbolizes New York City’s history. Two family Qurans will be used during Friday’s public ceremony.
Zoran Mamdani on Thursday became the first New York mayor to be sworn in using the Quran.
Mamdani, the first Muslim and South Asian mayor of America’s largest metropolis, used his grandfather’s Quran and a 200-year-old book borrowed from the New York Public Library (NYPL) for the private swearing-in event held in a disused subway station beneath Times Square.
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He will then use two copies of the Koran that belonged to his grandfather and grandmother during a daytime ceremony at New York City Hall on Friday.
The historic Quran borrowed from the library was once owned by Black historian and author Arturo Schomburg, who sold his collection of 4,000 volumes to NYPL in 1926. His collection became the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.
Schomburg was born in Puerto Rico in the 1870s to parents of German and Afro-Caribbean descent. He then moved to New York and became a central figure in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s, a period of cultural and intellectual prosperity within New York’s black community.
The library praised Mamdani’s decision to use the Schaumburg Quran because of its “connection with one of New York’s most groundbreaking scholars and its simple, functional nature.”
The library said the Quran’s small size and writing in black and red ink suggest it was designed for everyday use. The edition is unsigned and undated, but “the detailed Nassuf script and its binding, which features a gilded medallion with an embedded floral composition, suggest it was produced in Ottoman Syria in the 19th century,” the library added.
“The importance of this Quran goes far beyond the beauty of its pages,” said Hiba Abid, curator of Middle Eastern and Islamic studies. “This is the Quran that is accessible to people, not only because of its simple craftsmanship, but also because it is part of the collection of the largest public library system in the country.”
Anthony W. Marx, the library’s president and CEO, said the Koran’s selection and its connection to Schonburg “symbolize a larger story of inclusivity, representation, and civic-mindedness.”
Mamdani is one of the few American politicians to swear an oath to the Koran. New York City does not require mayors to take the oath with a religious book in hand, but many past mayors have used Bibles.
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg used a 100-year-old family Bible at one ceremony, and Mayor Bill de Blasio used a Bible that once belonged to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Mamdani’s previous mayor, Eric Adams, also used the family Bible for his oath.
Mamdani’s faith and background as a Ugandan-born South Asian American were front and center during a campaign focused on celebrating New York’s diversity.
In a video that went viral on social media, Mamdani also spoke candidly about the impact of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and the subsequent rise in Islamophobia in the United States. Other videos featured the experiences of everyday New Yorkers, including many Muslim and immigrant communities.
Mamdani has also been harshly critical of Israel’s policies toward Palestinians and its genocidal war in Gaza.
Critics like New York State Representative Elise Stefanik focused on Mamdani’s background and left-wing politics as a democratic socialist, calling the mayor-elect a “jihadist communist” and sympathizer of “terrorists.”
But Mamdani vowed never to hide his background during campaign speeches. “I’m not going to change who I am, how I eat, or the beliefs I’m proud to call my own,” he said during the campaign. “I will no longer look for myself in the shadows. I will find myself in the light.”
