Who is Abdul El-Sayed’s wife Sarah Jukaku and what is her Indian connection?

Democrat Abdul El-Sayed defeated Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan’s US Senate race on Nov 3. His wife, Sarah Jukaku has gone viral on social media because of her Indian connection. Jukaku, a practicing psychiatrist by profession, was born in Michigan to Indian immigrant parents and grew up in the US. Her family traces its ancestry to Bhatkal, a coastal town in Karnataka. In a remark that went viral during the campaign, Jukaku claimed that El-Sayed takes orders exclusively from him.

Also Read: US Midterms 2026: Abdul El-Sayed wins Michigan race, becomes first Muslim American to be elected to US Senate

The couple first met while studying at the University of Michigan, where both were members of the university’s Muslim Students’ Association.

El-Sayed proposed to Sarah when she was in her first year at university. They married in May 2006, when she was 19. The couple have two daughters, Emmalee and Serene.

Abdul El-Sayed 's wife Sarah Jukaku's Indian connection

As El-Sayed heads to become the first Muslim to serve in the US Senate, a cheerful and emotional Sarah Jukaku hugged and kissed him on the stage in Detroit. El-Sayed then began his speech by saying: “Michigan, we did it! We turned that 'inshallah' into an ‘alhamdulillah’.” Miles away, Jukaku’s Indian links are in the spotlight.

Sarah Jukaku's father is Dr Tayeb Jukaku, a nephrologist who hails from Bhatkal, Karnataka. Her grandfather, JH Shamsuddin Jukaku, was a prominent lawyer who also served as deputy finance minister in the erstwhile Mysore State government under Chief Minister BD Jatti. According to reports, Jukaku family belongs to the Nawayath community, an ancient Muslim merchant community with historical ties to Arab, Yemeni, and Persian traders who settled along the south-western coast of India centuries ago. In 1980s, Sarah Jukaku’s family immigrated to the United States, shortly after her father completed his medical training in India. In the US, Sarah’s father has been associated with Muslim community organisations and is a board member of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). He has served on the founders’ committee of the Islamic Society of North America.

What we know about Sarah Jukaku?

Sarah was later born and raised in Michigan. Sarah pursued dual degrees in sociology and Near Eastern studies at the University of Michigan. She also has a master’s degree from the University of Oxford. She studied medicine at Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. She worked at University of Michigan Health, where she held a senior position in psychiatry, before setting up her private practice, Mind Work Psychiatry, in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Also Read: 'Bad guys lost': Abdul El-Sayed's first reaction after historic Michigan win

‘I Am More Indian Than Arab’

In one interview, El Sayed described himself as “more Indian than Arab.” "Listen, I’ve been married in a South Indian family for 20 years, like… I am well inducted now; I… you know, I might be more Indian than I am Arab," he had said. He spoke about the influence of his wife and daughters, saying: “I’m like surrounded by desi women my whole life, like I have two desi daughters and a desi wife." His wife also said in a campaign rally: “Nobody tells him what to do, except me!”

Trump trolled Sarah Jukaku

US President Donald Trump had made the US Midterm elections campaign about Abdul El-Sayed. He did not only target El-Sayed but in took the campaign rivalry to social media in August, posting a photograph of himself with First Lady Melania Trump alongside an image of El-Sayed and his wife Jukaku and captioning it as: “Two VERY DIFFERENT America’s [sic]."