El-Sayed received more than $115,000 in campaign contributions from dozens of people who work for or have held leadership positions with CAIR.
Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed received more than $115,000 in campaign contributions from dozens of people who work for or have held leadership positions with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a group with ties to terror.
A review of federal election records by Fox News identified at least 41 CAIR-linked donors who contributed to El-Sayed’s campaign. The contributors included officials connected to CAIR’s national organization and chapters in Michigan, California, Arizona, Texas, Georgia, Washington, Illinois, Minnesota, and Ohio.
Among the donors were CAIR National Board Chair Manal Fakhoury, National Board Treasurer Eyas Abdeen, National Vice Chair Emad Sabbah, and CAIR-Michigan board member Jukaku Tayeb, who is also El-Sayed’s father-in-law.
Tayeb has reportedly been a major financial supporter of the super PAC backing El-Sayed and was a member of the founding committee of the Islamic Society of North America, an organization previously scrutinized over alleged Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood connections.
CAIR-Michigan board member Muzammil Ahmed contributed $11,600, according to the report. Other donors included CAIR-California Governance Board Chair Asaad Traina, Treasurer Rubina Alvi, and board members Atef Ibrahim and Dina Ezzeddine.
CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad also contributed under the name Nehad Hammad. Awad faced widespread condemnation after saying he was “happy” following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack against Israel. The Biden administration previously cut ties with the group.
El-Sayed’s relationship with CAIR extends beyond campaign donations. He appeared at a CAIR event in 2022 and was paid for a speaking engagement during which he criticized Oklahoma’s prohibition on Sharia law and compared it to the Trail of Tears, according to The Washington Free Beacon.
CAIR describes itself as a Muslim civil rights organization and denies maintaining ties to Hamas, terrorism, or the Muslim Brotherhood. However, the organization was listed by the Justice Department as an unindicted co-conspirator during the 2007 Holy Land Foundation terrorism-financing case. Five Holy Land Foundation officials were later convicted of funneling more than $12 million to Hamas.
A federal court found “ample evidence” connecting the organization to Hamas. CAIR’s founders, Omar Ahmad and Awad, were also members of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestine Committee, which a George Washington University Program on Extremism report described as part of “the US-based Hamas infrastructure.”
CAIR officials have also repeatedly drawn criticism over statements surrounding Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre. Zahra Billoo, executive director of CAIR’s San Francisco Bay Area office, posted “We are witnessing decolonization” on the day Hamas terrorists killed approximately 1,200 people in Israel. She later referred to slain Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh as a “martyr.”
CAIR-California CEO Hussam Ayloush has compared Israel to Nazi Germany and stated that “Israel should be attacked.” Awad’s remarks about being “happy” to see Palestinians break out of Gaza ultimately led the Biden administration to remove CAIR from its national antisemitism strategy initiative.
CAIR-CA’s 2024 filings showed that it distributed more than $4 million in subgrants to 39 organizations, including approximately $185,000 to California chapters of the Muslim American Society. George Washington University’s Program on Extremism has identified MAS as a “Brotherhood legacy group” in the United States. CAIR-CA also distributed $30,000 to the Islamic Society of Orange County, which previously hosted Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, the “Blind Sheikh” later convicted of seditious conspiracy following the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
Another $117,000 went to California chapters of the Islamic Circle of North America, an organization rooted in the Jamaat-e-Islami movement. A former ICNA president previously published an article that appeared to endorse establishing an Islamic caliphate in the United States.
The Department of Health and Human Services has begun investigating approximately $30 million provided to CAIR affiliates in California and Washington for Afghan refugee resettlement. HHS said information it received “raises concerns about the business practices and ethics of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and CAIR-California.”
The agency also said, “there may be connections between CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood and its Palestinian branch, Hamas.”
“As you may know, the United States Department of State has designated Hamas a Foreign Terrorist Organization. HHS takes these allegations very seriously as the department may not conduct business with entities with ties to such designated organizations.”
HHS reported tracing approximately $1.3 million to CAIR’s Washington chapter through the Washington Department of Social and Health Services. CAIR-CA’s 2024 audit reportedly showed that it received $36.45 million from the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement.
The organization previously settled litigation with a former employee rather than proceed with discovery that could have exposed information regarding its foreign funding sources.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott later announced that a federal court had granted his request for CAIR donor, recipient, and travel records as part of ongoing litigation. Abbott designated CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist and transnational criminal organizations in 2025, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis subsequently took similar action. The United Arab Emirates designated CAIR a terrorist organization in 2014.
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