'I will swear on a Quran': First Muslim US senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed opens up on oath plans

Michigan Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed has said he plans to take his oath of office on the Quran in January, becoming the first US senator to do so. However, he has yet to decide which copy of the holy book he will use.

Speaking to NPR's Leila Fadel on the network's Newsmakers programme on Thursday, El-Sayed mentioned two possible choices: a copy once owned by former US president Thomas Jefferson and an old Quran preserved at the University of Michigan.

"I will likely swear on a Quran. Which Quran, we're not sure," he said.

"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," he added.

In 2007, Keith Ellison became the first Muslim elected to the US Congress. He made history by taking his oath as a House member on a Quran translation once owned by Thomas Jefferson. The 1764 translation is preserved at the Library of Congress.

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Ellison was born in Detroit and raised in a Catholic family before converting to Islam at the age of 19.

El-Sayed, 42, defeated Republican candidate Mike Rogers in Michigan's Senate race on November 3, becoming the first Muslim American elected to the US Senate. He is also the first epidemiologist to serve in the chamber.

He is scheduled to take office on January 3, 2027, with Vice President JD Vance set to administer his oath.