U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn-r) takes his oath of office by swearing on a Holy Qur’an during a ceremonial swearing in with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (l) and his wife Kim (c) at the U.S. Capitol Jan. 4, in Washington, D.C. Ellison is the first Muslim elected as a U.S. Congressman. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images 'The Holy Qur’an, is the scripture that I read every day and it’s the book that I draw inspiration from, but all the religious stuff is going to be less important than those bread-and-butter issues that people care about every day.' —Rep. Keith Ellison

But a month before the new Congress convened, Mr. Ellison had been subjected to a firestorm of criticism when he announced his intention to take a strictly ceremonial oath of office using a Holy Qur’an instead of a Christian Bible.

Mr. Ellison silenced his critics however, when he chose to use the brown-leather-bound two-volume English translation of the Holy Qur’an, published in 1764, which was once owned by one of this country’s “Founding Fathers”—Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the U.S., and the author of the Declaration of Independence.

“I just want to say it’s a great day,” Mr. Ellison told The Final Call, shortly before the 110th Congress convened. “We have a lot of work to do for this country to set it in the right direction. We need to set it on a course of peace. We need to correct this colossal mistake in Iraq. But after we correct that mistake, we’ve got to be about diplomacy, negotiation and good international relationships, as opposed to military domination of anyone we’re scared of.”

Radio talk show host Dennis Prager, a member of the U.S. Holocaust Board, first criticized Mr. Ellison for not using a Bible for the symbolic photo of the oath with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), after the official oath was given to all members of Congress on the House Floor.

Rep. Virgil Goode (R-Va.) then picked up the complaint. “The Muslim representative from Minnesota was elected by the voters of that district and if American citizens don’t wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Holy Qur’an,” Rep. Goode wrote in a letter to his constituents in early December.

Ironically, Rep. Ellison, is a Black man, a descendant of slaves, who was born in Detroit and reared in the Catholic Church. He converted to Islam in college. He is not an immigrant.

“We can always fight and argue and wrangle,” Mr. Ellison said concerning his choice to not respond in kind to the shrill denunciations that were made against him. “But can we take just a minute to work it out?

“The bottom line is we have big work to do and we can’t be distracted by folks who aren’t clear on the fact that we’ve got work to do. We’ve got to get peace. We’ve got to cover the uninsured. We’ve got to raise the minimum wage. We’ve got to help Americans get from under this huge debt they’re dying under.”

The Jefferson Holy Qur’an is an important part of U.S. history itself. “Truly the basis of the Library of Congress is Jefferson’s Library,” James Billington, the Librarian of Congress told reporters after the ceremony. Mr. Billington and the Library’s rare books curator personally hand-carried the books to the Capitol for the occasion.

“He (Mr. Jefferson) had his initials in this, so we know it was his. This was an original. This was actually the copy that Jefferson had, and Jefferson used,” said Mr. Billington.

The Holy Qur’an, “is the scripture that I read every day and it’s the book that I draw inspiration from,” Mr. Ellison told an interviewer. But, “all the religious stuff is going to be less important than those bread-and-butter issues that people care about every day.”

Rep. Ellison said he hoped that his election to the House will help Muslims feel like they are part of U.S. society, but his focus is on secular domestic issues and getting out of Iraq rather than spreading Islam.

“I don’t have time to wrangle with anybody, unless they’re opposing me on the issues. The fire can come out on those issues, but when it comes to any kind of distraction, we’re just diplomatic, so we don’t get pulled into some issues that really are not what we’re here to do,” Rep. Ellison told The Final Call.

“The seven million Muslim-Americans living in the U.S. are an integral part of American society. Our country is a melting pot of different cultures and beliefs. This diversity is a strength, not a weakness,” Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) said in a statement in support of Mr. Ellison’s decision.

Among the other historic firsts that were observed when Democrats retook control of both the House and Senate: Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) became the first Mormon to serve as the Majority Leader of the Senate. Ironically, Mormons also have their own Book of Mormon which differs dramatically from the King James Bible which was hailed by Rep. Ellison’s critics as the official symbol of American patriotism.

There are a total of 15 Mormons in the Congress now. For the first time, two Buddhists were also sworn in as Congress members.

The Jewish community celebrated a new record, electing 43 of their faith to the House and Senate, bodies that consist of 535 voting members (233 Democrats and 202 Republicans in the House, and 49 Democrats, 49 Republicans, two independents who vote with the Democratic Caucus in the Senate).

Some 52 Arab Americans also ran for office around the country for various offices, local, state and national, according to The Arab-American News.com. Only four Arabs won seats in the Congress, and all are Christian incumbents who were re-elected. In this year’s elections, a total of 54 Arab-Americans ran nationwide, 40 won primaries and 24 won general elections for local offices.