Abdul El-Sayed’s historic US victory brings joy to Indian coastal town

By MNTV Staff Writer

NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — Thousands of miles from Michigan, where Abdul El-Sayed has made history as the first Muslim elected to the United States Senate, a small coastal town in southern India has found its own reason to celebrate.

Bhatkal, a historic Muslim-majority town in India’s Karnataka state, has an unexpected connection to the newly elected American senator: his wife, Dr. Sarah Jukaku, belongs to a prominent Muslim family whose roots in the town stretch back generations, The Times of India reported.

El-Sayed, a Democrat, defeated Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan’s closely contested Senate election on Nov. 3, becoming the first Muslim American elected to the upper chamber of the US Congress.

While his victory sparked celebrations among supporters across the United States, it also drew attention in Bhatkal, where Sarah’s family has a long history of public service, education and community development.

Centuries-old Muslim heritage

The Jukaku family belongs to the Nawayath community, whose ancestors arrived along India’s southwestern coast from the Arabian Peninsula, Persia and other parts of West Asia centuries ago.

Over generations, the community developed a distinctive cultural identity, preserving Islamic traditions while contributing to the region’s trade, education and public life.

Among its prominent figures, according to The Times of India, was Sarah’s grandfather, Jukaku Shamsuddin, a lawyer and politician who served as deputy finance minister in the former Mysore state government under Chief Minister B. D. Jatti in the late 1950s.

He was the first lawyer from the Nawayath community and its first member to hold a ministerial position, and is remembered for his contributions to Bhatkal’s development — decades before Mysore state was renamed Karnataka in 1973.

He died at 52, leaving behind his wife, Zubeidah Begum, six daughters and four sons. Following his death, several family members moved to other Indian cities and overseas to pursue education and professional opportunities.

From Bhatkal to Michigan

Among them was Dr. Jukaku S. Tayeb, Sarah’s father, who spent his early years in Bhatkal before enrolling at Bangalore Medical College in 1976. He later worked in the Middle East before settling in Michigan in the 1980s, where he built a career as a nephrologist, a specialist in kidney diseases.

Born in the United States, Sarah followed her father into medicine. She studied sociology and Near Eastern studies at the University of Michigan, earned a master’s degree from the University of Oxford and completed her medical education at Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.

She later held a senior position in psychiatry at University of Michigan Health before establishing her private practice, Mind Work Psychiatry, in Ann Arbor.

Sarah met Abdul El-Sayed while studying at the University of Michigan, where both were involved with the Muslim Students’ Association. The couple married in May 2006 and have two daughters.

El-Sayed, whose family has Egyptian roots, has frequently acknowledged his close connection to his wife’s South Indian heritage.

“I’ve been married in a South Indian family for 20 years … I’m well inducted now. You know, I might be more Indian than I’m Arab,” he once remarked in an interview.

Family celebrates historic victory

Sarah remained closely involved throughout her husband’s Senate campaign, frequently joining him at public events. During his final campaign speech, she delivered an emotional address describing El-Sayed as the love of her life and emphasizing his commitment to serving ordinary Americans rather than wealthy donors, corporations or powerful interests.

For the Jukaku family in Bhatkal, the victory carries special significance.

A cousin of Sarah’s told The Times of India that relatives were delighted by El-Sayed’s success and saw similarities between him and Jukaku Shamsuddin, particularly their commitment to honesty and public service.

More than seven decades after Shamsuddin entered government in southern India, a member of his extended family through marriage has made history in American politics.

For Bhatkal’s Nawayath Muslim community, the milestone reflects a remarkable journey connecting its centuries-old heritage on India’s western coast with the highest levels of political representation in the United States.