Abdul El-Sayed is running for the U.S. Senate in Michigan. The 42-year-old has stirred plenty of emotions on both sides of the political aisle. If he wins, he will make history as the first Muslim Senator in the U.S. While he\u2019s on national television every day, not much is known about his family. Here\u2019s all you need to know about his wife and two children, and why he felt like a \u201csupporting actor\u201d when his daughters were born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While Abdul El-Sayed, born in October 1984 in Rochester Hills, Michigan, has largely kept his family life private, his writings and past comments have offered glimpses into the complicated family history behind the politician.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the Michigan politician has taken the spotlight, both in his state and, perhaps most importantly, nationwide, interest in his private life has increased. So, let\u2019s take a closer look at his family, his wife and two children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to his campaign, Abdul El-Sayed was raised by his father, Mohamed, who immigrated to the United States from Egypt, and his stepmother, Jackie, whose family comes from Gratiot County, Michigan<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His biological mother, Dr. Fatten Elkomy, is a nurse practitioner in Missouri. However, El-Sayed has said that he did not grow up with her and is estranged from her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His father, Mohamed, 74, worked as an automotive engineer and previously taught at Alexandria University in Egypt<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He left the country in his 20s during political unrest under President Anwar Sadat. At the time, the Egyptian government was cracking down on militant students and professors following Sadat\u2019s peace agreement with Israel in the late 1970s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Abdul El-Sayed\u2019s Parents: Mohamed El-Sayed and Fatten El-Komy<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his 2020 book, Healing Politics: A Doctor\u2019s Journey into the Heart of Our Political Epidemic, El-Sayed explained that his father had become a target because of his political activism and his connections to young people<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His political agitation against Egypt\u2019s increasingly brutal military dictatorship coupled with his proximity to young minds, made him a threat to the regime. He had to leave. There were few options,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mohamed eventually settled in the United States, where he pursued a PhD in mechanical engineering at Wayne State University in Detroit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Ahmed\u2019s book, his father was drawn to America because he believed people should be judged on their character rather than their name, skin color, or religion<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shutterstock.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHis name, the color of his skin and how he prayed shouldn\u2019t matter,\u201d El-Sayed wrote about his father\u2019s dreams of a new life in the U.S. \u201cAmerica was also the home of democracy, that thing he had so wanted for Egypt.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Estranged(?) mother
While El-Sayed has spoken openly about his father\u2019s journey, questions have also been raised about his relationship with his biological mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a conversation with NBC News, he was asked about claims concerning his mother\u2019s alleged connections to the Muslim Brotherhood. El-Sayed strongly rejected any suggestion that he or his family had ties to the organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAre you serious?\u201d he responded. \u201cI have no ties. We have no ties.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Healing Politics: A Doctor\u2019s Journey into the Heart of Our Political Epidemic, El-Sayed also offered a more personal description of his mother, calling her \u201csmart, warm and charismatic<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While El-Sayed\u2019s campaign has said that he is estranged from his mother, reports suggest that the two have had some contact over the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
redit: Wikipedia Commons<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The NY Post reported that El-Sayed\u2019s mother attended his medical school graduation in 2014. Also, he mentioned visiting her in a 2021 column published on his Substack, per CBS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOff to Columbia, MO to visit my mother for the [Thanksgiving] holiday,\u201d he wrote then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a polarized era in the U.S., Abdul El-Sayed has often been criticized, not least because of his faith. The fact is, he could become the first-ever Muslim Senator, although El-Sayed has strongly made it clear that he doesn\u2019t care about what you believe in, as long as you have the right to believe in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is Abdul El-Sayed A Doctor?
During a rally in October, El-Sayed stated, \u201cI\u2019m not running to be a Muslim senator. I\u2019m running for U.S. Senate and happen to be Muslim,\u201d per CBS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that if he wins, he will swear an oath to the Constitution of the United States of America, which the politician said guarantees him and others \u201cthe right to pray as I choose to pray or not pray at all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While his opponent, Mike Rogers, and others have claimed that Abdul is in fact not a doctor, his past studies say otherwise. El-Sayed graduated from the University of Michigan with the highest distinction, where he also played lacrosse for the Wolverines men\u2019s team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He later earned his medical degree from Columbia University through a National Institutes of Health (NIH)- funded fellowship. However, his academic achievements did not stop there<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a Rhodes Scholar, he went on to complete a second doctorate at the prestigious University of Oxford in England.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Abdul El-Sayed and his wife, Sarah Jukaku. Credit: Finn Gomez\/Getty Images
During his time at the University of Michigan, Ahmed El-Sayed found his one and true love, Dr. Sarah Jukaku. In fact, the couple even married while still studying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
El-Sayed and Jukaku met at the University of Michigan and were featured in a 2006 article in the college\u2019s student publication, The Michigan Daily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who Is Abdul El-Sayed\u2019s Wife, Sarah Jukaku?
She told The Michigan Daily that they got engaged when she was a freshman. At the time, El-Sayed told the newspaper that being \u201cso willing to commit to marriage is a byproduct of this general self-control\u201d taught by their religion, Islam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen he proposed to me, I was a freshman,\u201d she explained to The Michigan Daily. \u201cI was young, and one of the things he said was, \u2018We\u2019re still growing, now we can grow together.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
El-Sayed added, jokingly, \u201cI\u2019m romantic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBeing able to grow with your significant other is an experience that a lot of people miss out on. (Sarah and I) are happy and lucky to have the opportunity, thank God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
El-Sayed further told The Michigan Daily, \u201cI was going to meet one girl and I was going to marry her. In some senses, I feel like that\u2019s the purest form of a relationship with someone. It cuts out all the B.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Healing Politics: A Doctor\u2019s Journey into the Heart of Our Political Epidemic, El-Sayed also shared some personal details about his wife, Sarah. He wrote that her parents had immigrated to the United States from a village in India and described her as having a \u201cquiet confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
El-Sayed reflected on how differently they approached their emotions, admitting he had struggled to understand himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI struggled to learn who I was,\u201d he wrote. \u201cSarah did not. She danced with her emotions. I wrestled with mine. And in time she would teach me to dance, awkwardly, with mine too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sarah Jukaku appears in husband\u2019s campaign
He also suggested that her calm, caring nature made her well suited to become a psychiatrist. Abdul wrote that it \u201cmakes sense\u201d she chose a career helping people through some of life\u2019s most difficult experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As her husband has been campaigning for the Senate seat, Jukaku has also appeared in some of her husband\u2019s campaign materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, in one video, Sarah spoke about the support she got from her union after she experienced medical complications after childbirth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t realize you need the union until you need it,\u201d Dr. Sarah Jukaku said. \u201cIn my case, having that advocate was really important when I wasn\u2019t sure where to turn.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Abdul El-Sayed has praised his wife in both interviews and on social media. For example, on Mother\u2019s Day in May, he shared a post praising his wife<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Happy Mother\u2019s Day to all the moms out there, and especially to my brilliant life partner, Sarah. Sarah, you are my rock and the greatest mother to our daughters. We are so blessed to have you,\u201d he wrote on X.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Does Abdul El-Sayed Have Kids? Meet His Daughters, Emmalee and Serene
Abdul El-Sayed and his wife Sarah have two daughters: Emmalee and Serene. However, he has largely kept them private, far from cameras. When they have appeared in campaign videos, they have done so without showing their faces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, it still offered a rare glimpse into his family life. In late October, Abdul shared a video on Facebook named \u201cbedtime duties,\u201d which followed him into his home and showed how he spent time with his daughters after coming home from the campaign trail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The video showed glimpses of Abdul\u2019s life at home with his children, and he said it\u2019s \u201cbittersweet\u201d to get home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s nice, it\u2019s bittersweet,\u201d El-Sayed said. \u201cWhen you\u2019re gone, you are focused on what you\u2019re doing. And then you get back, and you realize how much you missed. So that\u2019s not great. \u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut it\u2019s so nice to see them, and especially the older one. Emmalee is curious about the whole thing, but the younger one is like blissfully ignorant. So that\u2019s lovely because she\u2019s the only person in my life who doesn\u2019t ask me about the race<\/p>\n\n\n\n
e continued, \u201cYour relationship with your kids evolves over time. You know, as soon as they\u2019re born, they\u2019re going to be the most important people in your life. And I think there is this thing that happens with dads in particular: you get so excited for them to be born and then you realize, like, for the first six weeks, they give you very little, and you\u2019re just trying to be a really good supporting actor. And then they smile for the first time, and it changes your life. \u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n
El-Sayed admits \u201csadness\u201d about missing moments with daughters while campaigning
In an interview with ABC News, he said the most challenging part of being away from his family on the campaign trail is not necessarily missing \u201cthe headline moments,\u201d such as games, but \u201cthose interstitial moments, the cement between the bricks<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so there\u2019s a lot of sadness about missing some of those moments,\u201d he told ABC, crediting his wife for maintaining normalcy for his daughter at home. She has also helped keep their children away from the negative ads on television.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Father\u2019s Day earlier this year, Abdul El-Sayed praised his daughters and sent a message to other dads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo grateful to be Emmalee and Serene\u2019s Baba. Happy Father\u2019s Day to all the fathers and father figures in Michigan! (And to all those dads missing their babies and children missing their dads today, may this day bring back the best memories.)\u201d El-Sayed wrote on Facebook, alongside a video with his children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What do you think of Abdul El-Sayed? Please share your opinion in the comments section<\/p>\n\n\n\n