NEW: Abdul El Sayed’s Mother Worked For ‘Global Terrorist’ Group Funding Bin Laden, Taliban

Michigan Democratic Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed is facing a fresh family controversy after a new report revealed that his birth mother worked for an Islamic charity later designated by the U.S. government for supporting terrorism and accused of providing financial support to Osama bin Laden, Hamas and the Taliban.

Fatten Fathy Elkomy worked for the Islamic American Relief Agency, or IARA, from 1999 until at least 2004, according to documents cited by The Midwesterner.

The organization publicly presented itself as a humanitarian charity focused on providing health care and assistance to orphans and disadvantaged people in conflict zones.

But in October 2004, the U.S. Treasury Department designated IARA and several of its officials under terrorism-related sanctions after alleging that its international network had provided financial support to terrorist organizations and figures.

The Treasury Department alleged that IARA’s overseas branches had supplied money to Osama bin Laden and supported groups including Hamas and the Taliban.

“Information available to the U.S. shows that the overseas branches IARA provided hundreds of thousands of dollars to UBL in 1999,” the Treasury said, referring to bin Laden.

The federal allegations were serious, but there is no evidence that Elkomy herself participated in terrorist financing or other wrongdoing.

She was never charged with a crime or personally accused by federal authorities of supporting terrorism.

Elkomy publicly defended her work at the organization after the federal government’s 2004 action, saying she had focused on helping vulnerable children.

“I’ve been working there serving orphans and children with at least one deceased parent, and it breaks my heart they’re not going to get any help,” Elkomy told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 2004.

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The U.S. branch of IARA later became the subject of a federal criminal prosecution over money sent to Iraq in violation of U.S. sanctions.

IARA-USA eventually pleaded guilty to conspiring to illegally transfer nearly $1.4 million to Iraq and agreed to dissolve.

“The plea agreement acknowledges that, due to its designation as a specially designated global terrorist and the subsequent blocking of all its property, IARA has no funds readily available to it to pay any fine,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a July 2016 announcement.

🇺🇸 Michigan Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed has a family connection you won’t hear much about on the campaign trail.

His birth mother worked from 1999 to at least 2004 for the Islamic American Relief Agency.

In 2004, the U.S. Treasury designated the group over alleged terror… pic.twitter.com/1KrPfa1AwS

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) August 19, 2026

Federal prosecutors also pursued several individuals connected to the organization over sanctions violations and related offenses.

The revelations add another politically explosive issue surrounding El-Sayed as the progressive Democrat heads into a high-stakes general election battle for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat.

El-Sayed has regularly discussed his father, Mohamed El-Sayed, and his stepmother, Jacqueline El-Sayed, during his public life and political campaigns.

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According to The Midwesterner, he has made relatively little public mention of his birth mother.

Elkomy moved back to the Middle East after remarrying before eventually returning to the United States, where she has worked as a nurse practitioner in Missouri.

The report comes as El-Sayed’s political and family connections face increased scrutiny following his Democratic primary victory.

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His sister, Eman Abdelhadi, has separately drawn attention over past political activism and comments surrounding the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

Abdul El-Sayed himself has campaigned as a leading voice of the Democratic Party’s progressive wing, setting up a sharp ideological contrast with Republican Mike Rogers in the November election.

While Elkomy has never been accused of participating in IARA’s alleged terrorism-related activity, the fact that she worked for the organization during years when federal officials say its international network was moving money to extremists is certain to give Republicans another line of attack as the Michigan Senate race intensifies.

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