On Jan. 1, 2026, Zohran Mamdani was sworn in as New York City’s newest mayor, wrapping up a historic campaign that engaged tens of thousands of new voters across the city. Upon taking his oath of office, Mamdani became the city’s first Muslim, first South Asian, and first African-born mayor. His inauguration marks a major milestone in our country’s ongoing progress toward true religious freedom. It is a reminder that one of our nation’s greatest strengths has always been our religious diversity and commitment to religious freedom for all.
In keeping with his faith, Mamdani chose to take his oath on his grandfather’s Quran, as well as another Quran of historical value on loan from the New York Public Library – as is his right as an American, and as many previously elected officials have similarly done. In fact, there is no legal requirement that an elected official must swear an oath on a Bible, or any religious text for that matter.
But instead of celebrating the unity and rich religious diversity that this moment represented for our country, some politicians responded with bigotry. None were louder than Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R).
In response to an article about Mamdani’s swearing-in ceremony and choice to use a Quran, Tuberville posted a message on X: “The enemy is inside the gates.”
Tuberville has a long history of hateful and anti-Muslim language and has been classified as an anti-Muslim extremist by the Council on American-Islamic Relations for past bigoted comments. To name a few:
This kind of dangerous rhetoric mirrors Christian Nationalist talking points and poses a grave threat to religious minorities in this country. It sends the message that people of different faiths are not welcome here, and certainly not welcome to serve as our leaders – as if their faith lessens their patriotism rather than strengthening it.
We’ve seen this kind of rhetoric from others as well, like Florida Rep. Randy Fine (R), who has called Muslim officials like Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) “terrorists” and mocked their faith, even going so far as to comment under a photo of Tlaib and Mamdani, “Muslim terrorists hang out together.”
A decade ago, now-Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (D), who previously served as the first Muslim in the House of Representatives and was succeeded by Omar, also faced a wave of backlash after choosing to use a Quran at his own swearing-in ceremony. A Virginia representative even went so far as to circulate a letter saying that Ellison’s decision to use the Quran was a threat to “the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America.”
In fact, Ellison had chosen to use a copy of the Quran once owned by none other than Thomas Jefferson, a Founding Father and strong advocate for church-state separation. In response to the hateful comments, a spokesperson for Ellison summed it up quite nicely: “Keith is paying respect not only to the founding fathers’ belief in religious freedom but the Constitution itself.”
As we can see, anti-Muslim attacks against public officials are sadly nothing new. However, Tuberville’s statements are especially dangerous coming from a sitting U.S. senator whose constituents have trusted him to represent them. When we witness this type of hateful behavior from our leaders, it fuels discrimination, harassment, and violence against Muslims and Muslim Americans. It creates barriers to civic participation, emboldens religious extremists, and undermines two of our core American values:
Tuberville’s comments are a reminder that the real threat to religious freedom does not come from Muslim Americans participating fully in civic life, but from Christian Nationalists in our government who want to impose their own narrow religious identity on the entire country.
He could learn something from Ellison, who responded with grace to the attacks he received for using Jefferson’s Quran: “It demonstrates that from the very beginning of our country, we had people who were visionary, who were religiously tolerant, who believed that knowledge and wisdom could be gleaned from any number of sources, including the Qurʻan. A visionary like Thomas Jefferson was not afraid of a different belief system… This just shows that religious tolerance is the bedrock of our country, and religious differences are nothing to be afraid of.”
Mamdani’s victory reflected the enormous religious and cultural diversity of New York City and the right to freedom of religion that our Constitution secures for all. His swearing-in ceremony, like those of countless Jewish, Christian, Hindu, and nonreligious officials before him, exemplifies many of this country’s most treasured principles: that religious freedom, public service, and participation in our democracy belongs to all Americans – of all religions and none.
Photo: Zohran Mamdani is sworn in as New York City’s mayor by New York Attorney General Letitia James, left, alongside his wife Rama Duwaji, right on Jan. 1, 2026. He used two Qurans to take his oath of office. (Photo by Amir Hamja-Pool/Getty Images)
