IT was the first time that a copy of the Holy Quran was used at the Thursday midnight swearing-in ceremony of Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York City. Mamdani, who was joined by his wife Rama Duwaji and New York Attorney General Letitia James, took his oath at the Old City Hall Station. The scene was dimly lit and the backdrop dramatic. At the stroke of midnight, James began to swear in the man who has radically transformed NYC politics in a single year.

Two copies of the Holy Book were used at the ceremony. One had belonged to Mamdani’s grandfather and the other was part of the collection of the New York Public Library. The second copy dates back to the late 18th or early 19th century and belonged to a Black Puerto Rican. It was reportedly included in the ceremony because it represents the long history of Islam in a city with various threads of diversity. The symbolism was significant and the mood ebullient.

Later, in a huge public ceremony Mam­dani was sworn in by Democratic socialist star Senator Bernie Sanders. He spoke a phrase in Urdu translating to “You have changed people’s hearts” in his acceptance speech, quoting a Pakistani aunty he had encountered during his campaign.

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© Dawn