Jefferson and the Quran

Ellison Uses Thomas Jefferson's Quran, Frederic J. Frommer, Associated Press, 5 January 2007

WASHINGTON (AP) - Keith Ellison made history Thursday, becoming the first Muslim member of Congress and punctuating the occasion by taking a ceremonial oath with a Quran once owned by Thomas Jefferson.

"Look at that. That's something else," Ellison, D-Minn., said as officials from the Library of Congress showed him the two-volume Quran, which was published in London in 1764.

A few minutes later, Ellison took the ceremonial oath with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., at his side. So many of Ellison's family members attended the ceremony that it was done in two takes.

Ellison had already planned to be sworn in using a Quran, rather than a Bible. He learned last month about Jefferson's Quran, with its multicolored cover and brown leather binding, and made arrangements to borrow it.

Although the Library of Congress is right across the street from the Capitol, library officials took extra precautions in delivering the Quran for the ceremony. To protect it from the elements, they placed the Quran in a rectangular box, and handled it with a green felt wrapper once they got it inside the Capitol.

Instead of using surface streets, they walked it over via a series of winding, underground tunnels — a trip that took more than 15 minutes. Guards then ran the book through security x-ray machines at the Capitol.

The Quran was acquired in 1815 as part of a more than 6,400-volume collection that Jefferson sold for $24,000 to replace the congressional library that had been burned by British troops the year before, in the War of 1812. Jefferson, the nation's third president, was a collector of books in all topics and languages.

The book's leather binding was added in 1919. Inside, it reads, "The Koran, commonly called 'The Alcoran of Mohammed.'" Jefferson marked his ownership by writing the letter "J" next to the letter "T" that was already at the bottom of pages, according to Mark Dimunation, chief of the Library of Congress' rare book and special collections division.

Ellison, the first black member of Congress from Minnesota, was born in Detroit and converted to Islam in college. He said earlier this week that he chose to use this Quran because it showed that a visionary like Jefferson believed that wisdom could be gleaned from many sources.

In a brief interview Thursday on his way to a vote, Ellison suggested he had tired of the whole issue of his using the Quran.

"It was good, we did it, it's over, and now it's time to get down to business," he said.

Asked if he was relieved to have it behind him, Ellison said, "Yeah, because maybe we don't have to talk about it so much anymore. Not that I'm complaining, but the pressing issues the country is facing are just a little bit more on my mind right now."

Ellison's mother, Clida Ellison, said in an interview that she thought any controversy over her son's choice was good, "because many people in America are going to learn what the diversity of America is all about."

She described herself as a practicing Catholic.

"I go to Mass every day," she said.

Eid reflections: searching for Salah-ad-din

So for Eid we had some friends and family over. The topics of discussion inevitably shifted to Saddam Hussein's execution and, the perennial favourite, The State of Pakistan Today and What Can Be Done To Remedy It.

There was a great deal of pessimism even from individuals who are usually more optimistic vis-a-vis Pakistan and its inhabitants. But last night, for some reason, the discussion was much more sober and pessimistic in tone. The discussion drifted towards how almost every transaction in Pakistan is tainted with hues of corruption and bribery. Ordinary transactions, ordinary places to visit, it almost seemed as though every encounter with another Pakistani would result in your losing some money to corrupt officials demanding bribes and whatnot.

It reminded me of other previous discussions i have had with Muslims of other nationalities who complain of similar issues. The core thread running throughout most of these discussions is that of a sense of lost 'Muslim-ness', a sense that Muslims themselves have corrupted their faith. A sense of futility, a belief that Muslims are today's downtrodden, they are the underdogs. If they are not the underdogs, then they are (portrayed as) the tyrants. Iraq, Palestine, Sudan, Indonesia, Somalia, Thailand, Russia. If you listen to the news, or pick virtually any large region of the world, you can practically pinpoint an area where, if we are not the victims then we are surely the oppressors.

Volunteering at a Christian homeless shelter this past week, i was moved to learn that one of the homeless clients there is a Muslim.

"You should make dawah to him," one of the sisters said to one of the brothers.

Later, i thought to myself: he is not the one who needs dawah. We are the ones who need dawah because there is surely, surely, something wrong with us if a Muslim brother is accessing the services of a Christian homeless shelther. Where were the Muslim food banks, the Muslim groups organizing soup kitchens for the homeless? We dropped the ball on that. It's not him who needed the dawah. It's us.

An Eid execution

There is something disturbing about that video. About the taunts hurled by witnesses, about the jostling, the mood, the atmosphere is undignified. The man is being hanged. There is a time and a moment for a bit of dignity. Yes, dignity even for a murderer. Yes, dignity even for a mass murderer. Why? Because that display of dignity is what separates 'us' from 'them'. The respect that we show when others do not, the dignity we display when others do not, the adherence to rules and regulations, to guidelines and decorum, that is what differentiates us from them. The line is otherwise blurred. In the absence of all that, what separates the executioner from the executioned?