AL-Qur’an is a book of Islamic religion, already in the hands of one of the US founders, Thomas Jefferson. President Obama’s acknowledgment on various occasions that he also first recognized the Qur’an from Thomas Jefferson. The Qur’an is now safely stored in the Library of Congress, Washington DC. The Qur’an with Jefferson’s English translation was purchased from one of the shops on Duke of Gloucester Street when he was completing his law studies at The College of Willam and Mary . The Qur’an and this translation were the bestsellers of that time, and were the best translations of the Qur’an in English at that time. The Qur’an in the hands of Jefferson was given a Preface by George Sale with a statement: “The religious and civil institutions of foreign countries that we must study, one of which is Muhammad, someone who created the law for the Arabs, founded a dynasty that had less than a century spread to various parts of the world, beyond what the Roman empire had done. ”
George Sale is also a lawyer. The introduction he wrote in the translation shows the placement of the Qur’an as a legal guide. As described in the previous article, the Qur’an and English translation inspired Thomas Jefferson on various occasions. Among the influence of the Qur’an in the hands of Thomas Jefferson, known as a famous writer and jurist, and has completed a number of legislation concerning religious tolerance. Jeferson drafted more than 100 laws for the State of Virgina between 1776-1779. Among those he is most proud of is number 82: Draft law to establish religious freedom called the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. “No Pagan or Mohamedan (Muslim) or Jewish adherents should be exempt from the commonwealth civil rights due to their religion,” said the commentator. Jefferson was also quoted as saying: “After we drive away religious intolerance from our country under which humans have been bleeding for so long and suffering, Many writers commented on Thomas Jefferson’s familiarity with the Qur’an. Among them Denise A. Spellberg, a professor of Arabic history and studies at the University of Texas at Austin, United States, wrote in her book entitled:
Thomas Jefferson’s Qur’an: Islam and the Founders (2013).This book has been translated into Indonesian with the title: Controversy of the Qur’an Thomas Jefferson, Jakarta Alphabet Publisher, in 2014. This book links the influence of Islam that was unearthed from the Qur’an in US policy, starting from the drafting of the Declaration text. US independence, to the rules and other legislation. It is not true if we claim the US as a country that is completely contrary to the teachings of the Qur’an. The substance of the teachings of human rights and religious tolerance, and gender equality in the western world, according to Prof. Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad, a history professor at Georgetown University, Washington DC, is an important contribution of the value of Islamic teachings
