Michigan Democratic Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed rarely discusses his birth mother, Fatten Fathy Elkomy, on the campaign trail. A report by The Midwesterner revealed that Elkomy worked for the Islamic American Relief Agency (IARA), also known as the Islamic African Relief Agency, from 1999 to at least 2004. In 2004, the U.S. Treasury Department designated the IARA as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist organization, citing its financial support for Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda, and the Taliban.
Federal court records show Elkomy's name appearing in evidence related to the government's case against IARA. The records reference Elkomy 14 times and document her participation in eight wire transfers and five recorded calls between 1999 and 2002. One such record is an IARA-USA transfer-request form for $24,607.34 to its Iraq office. Elkomy was not charged with any crime, named as a co-conspirator, or accused of terrorism-related offenses in connection with her work for the agency.
Elkomy's brother, Mohamed Elkomy, who is El-Sayed's uncle, also appears in exhibits related to calls between donors and IARA officials.
The IARA, founded in 1985 in Columbia, Missouri, stated its mission was to raise funds for those affected by poverty, famine, disasters, and conflict, particularly in Africa and Sudan. In 2007, the Department of Justice charged IARA-USA with illegally transferring funds to Iraq in violation of federal sanctions. Two IARA board members pleaded guilty in 2010 to conspiring to transfer over $1 million to Iraq. IARA-USA ultimately pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions and agreed to dissolve.
In 2004, Elkomy publicly defended the organization, telling the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that she was working to help vulnerable children and orphans. She continues to live in Missouri, working in mental-health care and at the Islamic School of Columbia. There is no evidence in the criminal case that she was charged with terrorism or any other crime.
Despite rarely mentioning his birth mother, El-Sayed has referenced her professional background to support his healthcare policy positions, stating during a campaign stop that his mother was a psychiatric nurse practitioner. He more frequently discusses his stepmother, Jacqueline El-Sayed, who married his father after he immigrated to the U.S. in the early 1980s.
El-Sayed's maternal half-sister, Eman Abdelhadi, a University of Chicago professor, has gained attention for her pro-Palestinian activism and her characterization of Israel's military campaign in Gaza as genocide, a term El-Sayed has also used. Abdelhadi was also arrested in 2025 following a protest outside an immigration detention facility near Chicago. El-Sayed's campaign has stated that while he loves his sister, he disagrees with her on several political positions and rhetoric, particularly regarding foreign policy. El-Sayed's campaign did not respond to requests for comment regarding his mother's involvement with the IARA.