NYC’s First Muslim Mayor Sworn on Quran Once Owned by Black Historian

A Midnight Oath in an Abandoned Subway Station

At the stroke of midnight on January 1, 2026, Zohran Mamdani placed his hand on a centuries-old Quran and became New York City’s 112th mayor.

The ceremony happened in an abandoned subway station beneath City Hall, a space most New Yorkers have never seen. The 34-year-old Uganda-born Democrat wasn’t just the first mayor sworn in on Islam’s holy text.

He was making history in three different ways at once, and the book he chose told a story all its own.

First Muslim, South Asian, and African-Born Mayor

Mamdani’s oath broke three barriers in a single moment.

He became New York’s first Muslim mayor, its first of South Asian descent, and the first born in Africa. Born in Kampala, Uganda, in 1991, he moved to New York City at age seven.

His father, Mahmood Mamdani, is a Columbia professor and influential scholar on colonialism. His mother, Mira Nair, is an Oscar-nominated filmmaker.

Before winning the mayoralty, Mamdani served in the New York State Assembly representing Astoria, Queens.

His Wife Found the Quran in a Library

Rama Duwaji, Mamdani’s Syrian-American wife, helped select the historic Quran from the New York Public Library’s collections.

She worked with Hiba Abid, the library’s curator of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, to find a text with the right meaning. Duwaji, a 28-year-old illustrator and animator, met Mamdani on the dating app Hinge in 2021.

They married in 2025 and now live in Gracie Mansion, where she became the first Muslim and first Gen Z first lady of New York.

Arturo Schomburg Was Told His People Had No History

The Quran Mamdani used belonged to Arturo Schomburg, a Black Puerto Rican historian born in 1874. As a schoolboy in Puerto Rico, a teacher told him that Black people had no significant history.

Schomburg spent his life disproving that claim. He collected literature, art, slave narratives, and religious texts documenting Black achievement across the world.

In 1926, he sold over 4,000 items to the New York Public Library. The collection became the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem.

A Simple Quran Made for Ordinary Readers

The Schomburg Quran is pocket-sized and modest. Written in black and red ink with minute naskh script, it lacks the ornate decoration of royal manuscripts.

Scholars believe it was produced in Ottoman Syria in the late 18th or early 19th century, in a region covering present-day Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan.

The library says its simplicity shows it was meant for everyday readers, not ceremonial display. That accessibility made it the perfect choice for Mamdani’s oath.

Schomburg Center Celebrates 100 Years

The timing carried extra weight. The Schomburg Center marked its 100th anniversary in 2025, making the loan of its namesake’s Quran a centennial milestone.

"We are delighted that Mayor Mamdani selected the Quran from our namesake’s personal collection to mark this historic moment for New York City," said director Joy L. Bivins.

The center’s holdings have grown from Schomburg’s original 4,000 items to more than 11 million objects documenting global Black culture.

Keith Ellison Borrowed Jefferson’s Quran in 2006

Mamdani wasn’t the first politician to make history with a Quran.

In 2007, Keith Ellison of Minnesota became the first Muslim elected to Congress and chose Thomas Jefferson’s personal Quran for his ceremonial oath.

Jefferson had purchased the 1764 English translation in 1765, eleven years before writing the Declaration of Independence.

The Library of Congress loaned it to Ellison, who said the choice showed that America’s founders believed wisdom could come from many sources.

Old City Hall Station Closed Exactly 80 Years Earlier

The subway station where Mamdani took his oath shut down on December 31, 1945, exactly 80 years to the day before his ceremony.

Old City Hall Station was the crown jewel of New York’s first subway line when it opened in 1904. But its curved platform couldn’t accommodate longer trains, and the nearby Brooklyn Bridge station drew more riders.

The city closed it and left it frozen in time, a relic of early 20th century ambition hidden beneath the streets.

The Station Is an Underground Landmark

Designed by architects George Heins and Christopher LaFarge, Old City Hall Station features Guastavino vaulted tile ceilings, brass chandeliers, leaded glass skylights, and green and cream tilework.

It was built during the City Beautiful movement, which held that elegant architecture could improve civic society.

The station became a New York City landmark in 1979 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. Today, the New York Transit Museum offers occasional tours to members.

Bernie Sanders Called It a Historic Upset

Attorney General Letitia James administered the midnight oath, but Senator Bernie Sanders handled the public ceremony at City Hall that afternoon.

Sanders, who Mamdani calls the most influential political figure in his life, told the freezing crowd that the election was the biggest political upset in modern American history.

Tens of thousands of New Yorkers braved snow and bitter cold to witness the moment. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez delivered opening remarks.

Three Qurans for Three Ceremonies

Mamdani used three different Qurans throughout inauguration day.

At the midnight ceremony, he placed his hand on the Schomburg Quran alongside his grandfather’s Quran. For the public inauguration, his wife held his grandmother’s Quran as Sanders administered the oath.

The campaign didn’t share details about the family heirlooms, but the combination tied Mamdani’s personal history to the city’s cultural legacy in a single gesture.

The Quran Now Belongs to Everyone

Following the inauguration, the Schomburg Quran went on public display at the New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building.

Curator Hiba Abid said she hopes the attention surrounding the ceremony will prompt New Yorkers to explore the library’s collections on Islamic life in the city.

"This manuscript was meant to be used by ordinary readers when it was produced," Abid said. "Today it lives in a public library where anyone can encounter it.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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