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Broadcast Ellison's use of the Quran, says Hofrenning

By David Gonnerman '90
January 4, 2007

Minnesota's U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison is about to become the first Muslim member of Congress. For his official portrait he's expected to be pictured with his hand on a Quran borrowed from the United States Library of Congress (see related story). The book is an English translation that once belonged to Thomas Jefferson.

Ellison has been criticized for using the Quran in the ceremony. Associate Professor of Political Science Dan Hofrenning feels otherwise. "Rather than condemnation, we should broadcast Ellison's use of the Quran," says Hofrenning in a piece he read on Minnesota Public Radio. "A Muslim in the Capital with his hand on a Koran says something important about the United States that all the world should know."

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.