Abdul El-Sayed, who said in 2009 that following Sharia was an “obligation” and whose campaign confirmed in August that he still follows it in his personal life, won Michigan’s U.S. Senate seat on Nov. 3, becoming the first Muslim elected to the Senate. His win followed a CAIR turnout drive and calls from clerics describing voting as a “religious duty” for the “Ummah.” Commentator Wajahat Ali warned that “the fire will rise” if El-Sayed lost, a warning Muslim reformers condemned as Islamist intimidation.
In his victory speech in Detroit early on Nov. 4, El-Sayed introduced himself by his full name, Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed, and delivered part of his speech in Arabic. He told supporters, “Up until right about now, you might have noticed I always say ‘inshallah,’ or ‘God willing,’ whenever the outcome of this race was mentioned. But today, tonight, we can turn that inshallah into alhamdulillah!” Alhamdulillah means “praise be to God.”
