Indian connection behind first US Muslim senator Abdul El-Sayed

Her family belongs to the Navayath Muslim community of Bhatkal, a coastal town with historical connections to Arab, Yemeni, and Persian traders who settled along India's southern coastline centuries ago.

Washington: Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed has scripted history by defeating Republican Mike Rogers in the Michigan Senate race in the November 3 midterm elections, becoming the first Muslim elected to the US Senate. His historic victory has also drawn attention in India, particularly in Karnataka, with his wife Dr Sarah Jukaku’s family roots tracing back to Bhatkal in Uttara Kannada district.

Dr Sarah, a prominent psychiatrist, was born and raised in Michigan by parents of Indian origin. Her family belongs to the Navayath Muslim community of Bhatkal, a coastal town with historical connections to Arab, Yemeni, and Persian traders who settled along India’s southern coastline centuries ago.

Sarah’s father, Jukaku Tayyab, was born in Bhatkal. After completing his doctorate, he moved to the United States, where he became an established kidney specialist. Her grandfather, Jukaku Shamsuddin, was a well-known lawyer and educationist who also served as Deputy Finance Minister in the government of BD Jatti, who was Chief Minister of the erstwhile Mysore State, now Karnataka.

Sarah pursued higher education at the University of Michigan, where she earned degrees in sociology and Near Eastern Studies. She subsequently completed a master’s degree at Oxford University and obtained her medical degree from Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons in 2015.

She held a senior position in the psychiatry department at Michigan Health and currently runs Mind Work Psychiatry, a clinic in Ann Arbor.

Sarah and Abdul first met while they were both part of the Muslim Students Association at the University of Michigan. The couple married in May 2006, when Sarah was 19. They have two daughters, Imali and Sereen.

Abdul has often spoken about his close association with South Indian culture through his marriage. In an interview, he humorously remarked that after spending more than two decades with a South Indian family, he had become so familiar with its traditions that he sometimes felt more Indian than Arab.

Who is Abdul El-Sayed?

Born on October 31, 1984, in Rochester Hills, Michigan, Abdul is the son of Egyptian-origin immigrants Mohammed El-Sayed, an engineer, and Fatin El-Komi, a nurse practitioner.

He graduated from the University of Michigan with degrees in biology and political science. A Rhodes Scholar, he went on to earn a doctorate in public health from Oxford University and an MD from Columbia University.

Between 2023 and 2025, he headed the Wayne County Department of Health and Human Services, where he was associated with initiatives aimed at addressing medical debt and improving public healthcare access. He has also hosted the health and politics podcast ‘America Dissected’.

El-Sayed first entered electoral politics by contesting the Democratic primary for Michigan Governor in 2018, but was unsuccessful. His victory in the 2026 Senate election marks a major milestone in his political career and a historic moment for Muslim representation in American politics.

His achievement has also brought renewed attention to the Karnataka roots of his wife’s family, placing Bhatkal on the map as an important political milestone in the United States.