Abdul El-Sayed Mulling Over Which Quran to Use for Senate Swearing-In
Michigan Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed said Thursday he expects to place his hand on a Quran when he takes the oath of office in January, though he has not settled on which copy.
In an NPR interview, he listed two options under consideration: the version once owned by Thomas Jefferson or the oldest Quran in Michigan.
Abdul El-Sayed: I will likely swear on a Quran. Which Quran, we’re not sure
He’s about to take an oath to serve a country whose history and founding traditions are deeply rooted in Christianity on a Quran https://t.co/C1w46rG7x7
— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) November 12, 2026
El-Sayed, 42, won Michigan’s open Senate seat last week and will become the first Muslim to serve in the chamber. Vice President J.D. Vance will administer the oath.
El-Sayed noted the constitutional requirement and repeated a line from his victory speech about the “delicious irony” of the process. He told NPR he hopes the moment does not turn awkward.
The choice of text for ceremonial oaths is optional, and the formal Senate oath is taken collectively without any religious book.
Individual members sometimes stage a separate photo opportunity with a Bible or other volume. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to the U.S. House, used Jefferson’s copy of the Quran for a 2007 reenactment with then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Jefferson’s volume is a 1764 George Sale translation held by the Library of Congress. The University of Michigan holds the Quran which El-Sayed described one as the first in the state.
JUST IN: Abdul El-Sayed says he may be sworn into Congress using Thomas Jefferson’s personal copy of the Quran.
A Muslim Democrat is openly planning to take the oath of office on the Islamic “holy” book instead of the Bible.
Jefferson owned a Quran for study. He didn’t use it to swear allegiance to the United States.
How did we even get here?
— Jack (@jackunheard) November 12, 2026
@jackunheard What an insult to our founding fathers. What are we doing?!
— Anon B (@RealAnonB) November 12, 2026
During the interview, El-Sayed also addressed the broader meaning of the ceremony.
“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 said, referring to the U.S. Constitution.
He added that the document is what allowed him to run and allowed Michigan voters to elect him.
Abdul El-Sayed:
I will likely swear on a Quran. Which Quran, we’re not sure.
Thomas Jefferson had a copy of the Quran. So when Keith Ellison was sworn in to Congress, he swore on that copy.
There’s also the first Quran in the state of Michigan. The University of Michigan holds it. It’s very, very old, and that might be the choice.
So I don’t know, but I’ll swear on the Quran.
— Clash Report (@clashreport) November 12, 2026
@clashreport If you refuse to be sworn in by the Bible, it is obvious that your interests are not aligned with those of the nation. This guy is a traitor in disguise. A poser.
— Rage Bait (@RageBaitMaxing) November 12, 2026
El-Sayed used the same appearance to outline legislative priorities and leadership preferences.
He called for ending U.S. involvement in the Iran conflict, passing Medicare for All, and abolishing ICE. He urged Democrats to treat the midterm results as a temporary mandate that must be earned through action rather than a return to prior approaches.
He said that he would support a challenge to Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer by Sen. Chris Van Hollen and offered to meet with President Donald Trump on areas of potential agreement, including the possibility of attaching the president’s name to a major healthcare bill.
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The Quran decision remains open. El-Sayed’s office has not announced a final selection. The oath itself will occur when the new Congress convenes in early January.
America was founded as a Christian nation. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were shaped by that inheritance, and the men who wrote them drew their understanding of rights, liberty, and limited government from it.
Nothing in the Constitution requires any officeholder to swear on a Quran, and no custom obliges the rest of the country to treat that choice as normal or unremarkable.
The ceremonial book is optional. The values that built the country are not.
Holding fast to what the founding fathers established means recognizing the distinction between the private faith of any individual and the public tradition that defined the republic from the start.
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