Abdul El-Sayed made history on Wednesday by becoming the first Muslim Senator in the US midterm elections that gave Democrats the control of the Congress. It was a memorable moment that he celebrated with wife Dr Sarah Jukaku, who has family roots in India. In a video going viral after his win, El-Sayed, the son of Egyptian immigrants, recalls a family quip about his marriage, offering a glimpse into the Indian connection that has been part of his life for nearly two decades.
READ | America’s First Muslim Senator Has A Wife With Roots In Karnataka
In the podcast video, El-Sayed says when he married Dr Jakaku, one of his uncles from Egypt came to him and said, “There are 80 million Egyptians and you went and married an Indian woman?”
“80 million Egyptians and you went and married an Indian woman?” jokes Muslim-American Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed about his family’s initial reaction to his Indian wife https://t.co/eNqkSdgJfe
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“I replied ‘Amu (uncle in Arabic), there are a billion of them so statistically speaking, this was a high probability’,” El-Sayed is heard saying humorously.
The clip, circulating on X, is part of ‘Meet The Real Abdul El-Sayed’ podcast posted on YouTube in August this year. The conversation focused on his family, childhood and upbringing.
El-Sayed defeated Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan’s Senate race, becoming the first Muslim elected to the United States Senate.
El-Sayed and Dr Jakaku got engaged while he was a freshman and married in May 2006. She comes from an Indian-American family who migrated to the US from Bhatkal, a coastal town in Karnataka.
Her grandfather, Jukaku Shamshuddin, served as deputy minister for finance in the erstwhile Mysore State under then chief minister BD Jatti. He was also regarded as the first lawyer from the Bhatkal region.
Sarah’s father, Dr Tayeb Jukaku, is a nephrologist who studied medicine in Bengaluru before moving to the US.
El-Sayed has also spoken warmly about his connection with his wife’s Indian family. In an earlier interview, he joked that after nearly two decades of marriage, he might be “more Indian than I’m Arab”.
Sarah, meanwhile, has offered a glimpse into their relationship through her own sense of humour. At a campaign rally, she jokingly declared: “Nobody tells him what to do, except me!”
The couple has two daughters, Emmalee and Serene.
Source: www.ndtv.com
