Abdul El-Sayed made history on Wednesday by becoming the first Muslim elected to the US Senate in the midterm elections, which saw Democrats gain control of Congress.A video of the newly elected senator recalling a humorous family exchange about his marriage has since gone viral, offering a glimpse into his Indian connection through his wife, Dr Sarah Jukaku.In the podcast video, El-Sayed, the son of Egyptian immigrants, recalls how one of his uncles from Egypt reacted when he married Sarah, who comes from an Indian-origin Muslim family.“When I married Dr Jakaku, one of my uncles from Egypt came to me and said, ‘There are 80 million Egyptians and you went and married an Indian woman?'” El-Sayed says in the video.“I replied ‘Amu (uncle in Arabic), there are a billion of them so statistically speaking, this was a high probability’,” he added.Sarah Jukaku, a practising psychiatrist, was born into an Indian-immigrant Muslim family in Michigan whose roots trace back to Bhatkal, a coastal town in Karnataka, around 140 km from Mangaluru.Her family has a notable legacy in the region. Her grandfather, Jukaku Shamshuddin, served as deputy minister for finance in Mysore State under then chief minister BD Jatti. He was also regarded as the first lawyer from the Bhatkal region and is remembered for his contributions to the town’s development, including bringing electricity to the area.Sarah is the daughter of Dr Tayeb Jukaku, a nephrologist who completed his MBBS in Bengaluru before moving to the United States. Her father was also associated with the Islamic Society of North America and served on its founders’ committee.Sarah met El-Sayed while they were students at the University of Michigan, where both were associated with the Muslim Students’ Association. The couple married in May 2006 and have two daughters, Emmalee and Serene.During El-Sayed’s election campaign, Sarah also offered glimpses of their relationship. At a campaign rally, she jokingly declared, “Nobody tells him what to do, except me!”, drawing laughter from the audience.El-Sayed’s electoral victory marks a major turnaround in his political career. Eight years ago, he suffered a double-digit defeat in Michigan’s Democratic gubernatorial election. He later secured an upset victory over an establishment-backed candidate in the primary, despite being outspent by tens of millions of dollars.Reflecting on his campaign, El-Sayed said it had proved that “old-fashioned politics can work if you’re willing to do the work.”
