Ellison Will Swear on Interpretation of Koran

The Washington Post reports:

Rep.-elect Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, found himself under attack last month when he announced he'd take his oath of office on the Koran -- especially from Virginia Rep. Virgil Goode, who called it a threat to American values.

Yet the holy book at tomorrow's ceremony has an unassailably all-American provenance. We've learned that the new congressman -- in a savvy bit of political symbolism -- will hold the personal copy once owned by Thomas Jefferson.

...

Jefferson's copy is an English translation by George Sale published in the 1750s...

Both the Post and Mr. Ellison (the alleged Muslim) miss a pretty big fact about Islam here - a translation isn't really a Koran:

For Muslims, the divine Word assumed a specific, Arabic form, and that form is as essential as the meaning that the words convey. Hence only the Arabic Koran is the Koran, and translations are simply interpretations.

Now, let's have someone get sworn in with a picture Bible.


Hot Air shares the observation and has a bit more on the subject.