Mamdani to take midnight oath on Quran in NYC, marking historic firsts

Zohran Mamdani, who is set to become New York City’s next mayor, will take his midnight oath of office on a Quran during a ceremony planned in a long-closed subway station beneath City Hall, according to the Associated Press. The AP reported that the oath will be taken as Mamdani begins his term, and that the choice of the Quran reflects a set of historic firsts for the city.

Mamdani, 34, is a Democrat who is expected to assume office at midnight and will replace outgoing officials in a ceremony that the AP described as marking the first time a New York City mayor has been sworn in using Islam’s holy text. The AP also said the transition will make Mamdani the first Muslim, first South Asian and first African-born person to hold the mayoral job in New York City.

For the subway ceremony, Mamdani will place his hand on two Qurans: his grandfather’s Quran and a pocket-sized copy that dates to the late 18th or early 19th century. The AP reported that the smaller Quran is part of the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and that it symbolizes, in the words of the library’s Middle Eastern and Islamic studies curator, the diversity and reach of New York’s Muslims.

Hiba Abid said the Quran may be small, but that it connects elements of faith and identity in the city’s history. She told the AP that the manuscript’s importance lies “not in luxury, but in accessibility,” noting that the features of the text suggest it was intended for ordinary readers rather than for ceremonial display. The AP reported that the manuscript’s design—described as modest, with a deep red binding and script written in black and red ink—reflects that intended everyday use.

For a later swearing-in event at City Hall on New Year’s Day, the AP said Mamdani will use both his grandfather’s and grandmother’s Qurans, though the campaign has not provided additional details about the heirlooms. The AP also described the pocket-sized Quran’s provenance, saying scholars believe it was acquired by Arturo Schomburg, a Black Puerto Rican historian whose collection documented global contributions of people of African descent.

The AP reported that scholars believe the Quran’s acquisition likely reflected Schomburg’s interest in the historical relationship between Islam and Black cultures in the United States and across Africa. Because the manuscript is undated and unsigned, Abid said scholars relied on binding and script to estimate the period, placing it during the Ottoman period in a region that includes present-day Syria, Lebanon, Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan. The AP added that Abid said the Quran’s journey to New York mirrors Mamdani’s background: he is a South Asian New Yorker born in Uganda, while his wife, Rama Duwaji, is American-Syrian.

The AP reported that Mamdani’s rise as a Muslim democratic socialist has been accompanied by Islamophobic rhetoric that drew wider attention as his race became national. In a speech days before the election, Mamdani said the hostility had strengthened his resolve to be visible about his faith, including by telling supporters, “I will not change who I am, how I eat, or the faith that I’m proud to call my own,” and, “I will no longer look for myself in the shadows. I will find myself in the light.”

The decision to use a Quran has also prompted criticism from some conservatives, the AP said. The AP reported that U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama wrote on social media, “The enemy is inside the gates,” after a news article about Mamdani’s inauguration. The AP also reported that the Council on American-Islamic Relations has designated Tuberville as an anti-Muslim extremist based on past statements, and noted that backlash over Quran oaths is not new: it cited 2006 condemnation aimed at Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, after he chose to use a Quran for his ceremonial oath.

After the inauguration, the AP said the Quran will go on public display at the New York Public Library. Abid said she hopes that attention around the ceremony, whether supportive or critical, will encourage more people to explore the library’s collections documenting Islamic life in New York, including early 20th century Armenian and Arabic music recorded in the city and firsthand accounts of Islamophobia after the Sept. 11 attacks. She told the AP, “This manuscript was meant to be used by ordinary readers when it was produced,” and added that “Today it lives in a public library where anyone can encounter it.”