Keith Ellison was born into a Christian family and raised Catholic, but embraced Islam at the age of 19. In 2006 he was elected to the US Congress, becoming the first Muslim member in the country’s history. At his ceremonial swearing-in he held a Quran that had once been in the personal collection of Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States.
Keith Maurice Ellison was born on 4 August 1963 in Detroit, Michigan, the third of five brothers. His family was Catholic. His father, Leonard Ellison, was a psychiatrist, and his mother, Clida Martinez Ellison, was involved in social work.
Ellison left Catholicism for Islam while studying at Wayne State University. In a 2006 interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, he said that at 19 he met some Muslims on campus. After discussions with them about religion, faith and values, they invited him to Friday prayers. He liked what he heard there, and he has been a Muslim ever since.
Ellison later said that Islam’s message of social justice and equality attracted him most. Alongside his faith, he was interested in civil rights and social justice.
First Muslim member of Congress
After studying law, Ellison began his career as a lawyer, working on civil rights, employment and criminal law. He also served in the Minnesota state legislature.
In November 2006 he was elected to the US House of Representatives from Minnesota’s Fifth Congressional District, making history as the first Muslim member of Congress. His swearing-in took place on 4 January 2007.
His decision to choose a Quran for the oath drew wide debate in the United States at the time, because the Bible had usually been the book discussed at congressional swearing-in ceremonies. Ellison wanted to use a Quran with a link to American history at his ceremonial swearing-in.
The Quran from Jefferson’s collection
For the ceremony, Ellison chose a two-volume English translation of the Quran from Thomas Jefferson’s personal collection, titled “The Koran, Commonly Called the Alcoran of Mohammed”. It was translated from Arabic into English by George Sale. The edition, published in London in 1764, is kept in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division of the Library of Congress.
Jefferson acquired the two volumes around 1765, while studying law in Williamsburg, Virginia, when he was 21 or 22. A library official once suggested he may have bought it out of interest in religion, law and the world’s cultures.
In 1814 British forces burned the US Capitol and the congressional library. In 1815 Jefferson sold 6,487 books from his personal collection to Congress, including the two volumes of the Quran. His collection played an important part in rebuilding the library.
A major fire in 1851 destroyed about two-thirds of Jefferson’s books, but the two volumes of the Quran survived. In 1918 the Library of Congress rebound them for preservation.
Where was the Quran on the day of the oath?
One important detail of Ellison’s swearing-in is often misreported. On 4 January 2007 he first took the official oath on the floor of the House together with the other members of Congress. He did not hold Jefferson’s Quran during that group oath.
Later the same day, a private ceremonial swearing-in was held in the Capitol’s Sam Rayburn Room in the presence of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. It was there that Ellison placed his hand on Jefferson’s Quran. Library of Congress staff carried the rare book there in a specially protected box.
A Library of Congress press release of 3 January 2007 and the January-February 2007 issue of the Library of Congress Information Bulletin describe the event in detail.
Some welcomed Ellison’s decision and others criticised it. But his oath on a Quran from Jefferson’s personal collection remains a notable chapter in America’s political and religious history.
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