Fact Check: Did Abdul El-Sayed’s mother work for a charity linked to Hamas and Taliban?

DETROIT, MICHIGAN: After Abdul El-Sayed won Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary in August 2026, social media posts revived claims about his mother, Fatten Fathy Elkomy. Posts alleged that she worked for a charity linked to Hamas, the Taliban and Osama bin Laden. Let's fact-check the claim.

Claim: Abdul El-Sayed's mother worked for a charity linked to Hamas

The rumor originated with The Midwesterner, a conservative news website based in Michigan. 

The outlet reported that Abdul El-Sayed’s biological mother, Fatten Elkomy, worked for the Islamic American Relief Agency (IARA-USA), a former humanitarian aid organization linked to the larger Islamic African Relief Agency (IARA) network.

According to court documents cited by the outlet, Elkomy worked for IARA-USA from at least 1999 to 2002. 

In 2004, the US Treasury Department designated the larger IARA network as a “Specially Designated Global Ter****st” organization, citing its alleged support for ter***ism.

Republican and right-leaning accounts on X and Facebook later used the report to claim that Elkomy worked for a “terr*r group” that provided financial support to Hamas, the Taliban and Osama bin Laden, the founder of al-Qaida.

Fact Check: The claim is misleading

The claim that Abdul El-Sayed’s mother worked for a terr**ist organization that financially supported Osama bin Laden, the Taliban, and Hamas is misleading and lacks important context.

There is no evidence showing that the Islamic American Relief Agency (IARA-USA) knowingly provided financial support to ter***ists or militant groups.

It is more accurate to say that Elkomy worked for a charity that was connected to another organization later shut down after the US Treasury Department accused it of directly supporting terrorists.

The charity where Elkomy worked, the Islamic American Relief Agency (IARA-USA), was convicted of illegally sending money to Iraq and was later indicted over allegations that it supported an orphanage controlled by an Afghan warlord.

However, there is no evidence that Elkomy knew about these activities or took part in them. El-Sayed’s campaign said she was working to help orphaned children.

Roxie Richner, a spokesperson for El-Sayed’s campaign, said in an email that his biological mother “was working to help orphaned children.”

Richner also noted that Elkomy “was never accused of any wrongdoing and was not charged or named as a defendant” in the IARA-USA indictments.

El-Sayed’s campaign website states that his father and stepmother raised him, rather than Elkomy. His campaign did not respond to questions about his current relationship with his biological mother.