Overview
- The 18th-century Qur'an used at Zohran Mamdani’s Jan. 1 swearing-in is on view in the McGraw Rotunda at the New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on 42nd Street.
- The mayor used official channels to invite New Yorkers to see the exhibit, which includes the slogan "The People’s Qur’an" and images from his midnight oath.
- The volume belongs to the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and originated from Arturo A. Schomburg’s landmark collection.
- Curatorial notes identify the manuscript as Ottoman Syrian, written mainly in black ink with red divisions, signaling an everyday devotional book rather than a luxury commission.
- Library leaders frame the display as an act of inclusion and public stewardship, as New York’s first Muslim mayor highlights a shared cultural resource.