Newly reported court records are bringing additional scrutiny to the family connections of Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed. The records show that El-Sayed’s mother worked for an Islamic charity that was later designated by the U.S. government for supporting terrorism, although she was never charged with wrongdoing and the records do not establish that she knowingly supported terrorist activity.
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From The Daily Wire:
Fatten Fathy Elkomy, El-Sayed’s birth mother, worked for the Islamic American Relief Agency (IARA), also known as the Islamic African Relief Agency, from 1999 through at least 2004, according to records first reported by the Midwesterner. The Treasury Department designated IARA a global terrorist organization in October 2004.
The Treasury Department accused IARA’s international offices of providing “direct financial support” to bin Laden, al-Qaeda, and other terrorist organizations.
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Elkomy was not charged in the federal case or named as a co-conspirator, and the court records cited here do not establish that she knowingly supported terrorism.
The Islamic American Relief Agency came under intense federal scrutiny in the years following the September 11 terrorist attacks. When the Treasury Department designated the organization in 2004, it said IARA’s international network had connections to Maktab al-Khidamat, an organization co-founded and financed by Osama bin Laden that preceded al-Qaeda. Treasury also alleged that overseas IARA branches provided hundreds of thousands of dollars to bin Laden in 1999 and that an IARA program cooperated with an institute assisting Taliban fighters.
IARA’s U.S. operation later faced separate criminal prosecution. In 2016, IARA-USA pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate federal sanctions and other offenses after transferring approximately $1.375 million to Iraq. Its executive director, Mubarak Hamed, was sentenced to nearly five years in prison after pleading guilty to charges involving illegal transfers, obstruction of tax laws, and false statements to federal investigators.
El-Sayed’s mother defended her work with the organization in a 2004 interview, explaining that she had been serving orphans and children who had lost a parent. Nevertheless, according to the Midwesterner’s review of subsequent court records, her name appeared in 14 proposed government exhibits, including documents involving wire transfers and recorded telephone conversations.
The revelations are attracting greater attention because other members of El-Sayed’s extended family have connections to Islamic organizations that have faced federal scrutiny. His father-in-law, Tayeb Jukaku, has held leadership roles with the Islamic Society of North America and previously led the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Both organizations were named as unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism-financing prosecution. A federal judge subsequently found that the government had produced evidence connecting the organizations to Hamas, though neither ISNA nor CAIR was charged in that case.
El-Sayed himself has recently faced scrutiny over past comments concerning Sharia law and his Islamic faith. In a 2009 interview with The New York Times, he explained that he chose a Sharia-compliant mortgage because he wanted his financial decisions to conform to Islamic law. El-Sayed narrowly captured Michigan’s Democratic Senate nomination earlier this month and will face Republican Mike Rogers in November for the seat of retiring Sen. Gary Peters.
These reports underscore the importance of distinguishing documented facts from guilt by association while still carefully examining those seeking positions of national authority. Michigan voters deserve transparency about every candidate’s beliefs, associations, and record. Let’s pray that anything relevant to this consequential election comes fully into the light, that voters exercise wisdom and discernment, and that those entrusted with public office remain committed to America’s constitutional principles and national security.
Share your prayers and scriptures for discernment and truth in America’s elections in the comments.
(Excerpt from The Daily Wire. Photo Credit: Conlan Houston – https://www.flickr.com/photos/197161005@N08/54881517527/, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=177428647)
