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Abdulrahman Muhammad Al-Sayyid Plans Qur’an Oath for Michigan Senate Seat
“‘The opposition decided to make my name such an issue and my faith such an issue,’ El-Sayed said.”
“In August, El-Sayed’s campaign confirmed he still complied with Sharia law in his personal life, Breitbart News reported.”
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Abdulrahman Al-Sayyid plans to take the oath on the Quran. First Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate from Michigan.
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Oath on a Quran
Michigan senator-elect Abdulrahman Muhammad Al-Sayyid, known as "Abdul-Sayyid," said he intends to take the oath on a copy of the Qur’an when he takes office next January, making him the first Muslim in the U.S. Senate representing Michigan.
Al-Sayyid told NPR that he has not yet chosen the exact copy, and he pointed to a Qur’an that belonged to Thomas Jefferson and to a historic Qur’an kept at the University of Michigan.
Al-Sayyid said, "It does not matter what name it bears, nor the way you pray, America is big enough for everyone," and he added that what matters is the Constitution to which one swears allegiance.
Al-Sayyid also said he will use his full name "Abdulrahman Muhammad Al-Sayyid" in his election victory speech, after most people call him "Abdul."
Jefferson and Ellison
Al-Sayyid told NPR that the Jefferson copy is one option because it is the same one used by Democratic Representative Keith Ellison when Ellison took the oath in 2007.
Al-Sayyid said the University of Michigan copy is another option, and he described it as "very, very old" in the state.
El-Sayed also framed the choice as not changing the oath itself, saying, "Whatever my name or the way I pray, the most important is not the book on which I swear allegiance, but the document to which I pledge loyalty," referring to the U.S. Constitution.
Al-Sayyid said he is evaluating the decision while preparing for the oath ceremony set for January 2027, and he said Vice President J. D. Vance will administer the oath.
Campaign attacks and priorities
Al-Sayyid said the opposition made his name and faith a matter during the campaign, and he said he wanted to cling to his full name for people who were forced to hide their names and identities or faced mockery because of them.
Al-Sayyid said he is "100% American" and that he wants to show the breadth of American society, not confine it to a narrow image.
Al-Sayyid said he criticized U.S. President Donald Trump for bullying, and he said Democrats got a new chance but winning seats is not a victory in itself.
Al-Sayyid said he would prioritize preventing cuts to the Medicaid program, restoring Affordable Care Act subsidies, and moving toward universal Medicare, and he called for abolishing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency and defunding it.