Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed previously described following Sharia law as a personal religious obligation that he intended to observe throughout his life, according to comments he made to The New York Times in 2009, as reported by Free Beacon.

The remarks have resurfaced following El-Sayed’s narrow Democratic primary victory last week and amid renewed attention to his views on religion, government and the separation of church and state.

In the 2009 interview, the Times identified El-Sayed as a 24-year-old medical student and Rhodes scholar who had recently purchased a $123,000 condominium in Ann Arbor using a mortgage structured to comply with Islamic financial principles.

"Ultimately, the question is, when I die, and I stand before God and go through everything I did in my life, I don't want to say I did it the easy way instead of the Shariah-compliant way. Not because of fear but because of obligation," El-Sayed said at the time.

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The comments have taken on added significance because El-Sayed is now seeking a U.S. Senate seat representing Michigan.

His campaign has emphasized that he believes in the separation of religion and government while also acknowledging that he continues to follow the rules of his faith in his personal life.

Campaign spokeswoman Roxie Richner told the Washington Free Beacon that El-Sayed continues to observe Sharia in his personal affairs.

"Abdul believes in the separation of church and state," Richner said.

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"While he personally lives by the rules of his faith, as many Americans of various faiths do, Abdul opposes any effort by any religious community to write their faith laws into the laws of our country."

El-Sayed has made similar statements about religious freedom in more recent interviews.

In an interview with Religion News Service, he said he wants to "protect the kind of America where everybody can pray how they choose to pray, or choose not to pray at all."

His public comments about Sharia, however, have varied depending on the setting.

During his unsuccessful 2018 campaign for Michigan governor, El-Sayed denied ever describing himself as "Sharia-compliant" during an interview with conservative journalist Laura Loomer.

He subsequently ended the interview and criticized his campaign staff for allowing the questioning to continue.

El-Sayed has also rejected claims that he sought to undermine the Constitution or establish Sharia law in the United States.

A documentary covering his 2018 campaign showed El-Sayed asking filmmakers not to record a bookshelf in his home because it contained the Quran and other books about Islam.

Among the books was A Thematic Commentary on the Qur'an, written by Sheikh Mohammed al-Ghazali, as well as Cutting the Fuse, a 2010 book concerning the causes of terrorism.

"You're going to want to not get these things in the shot," El-Sayed said in the documentary, How To Fix A Primary, while pointing toward the bookshelf. "We're trying to keep the shot secular."

The issue resurfaced in 2022, when El-Sayed spoke before the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

During that appearance, he criticized efforts to prohibit the implementation of Sharia law and compared a 2010 Oklahoma ballot measure with other historical events in the state.

"You cannot understand the challenges we face today without understanding white supremacy," El-Sayed said.

"I don't have to tell you that the same exact forces that drove native peoples from their land two centuries ago, destroyed Black Wall Street a century ago, bombed a building decades ago, and tried to ban Sharia law not a decade ago, that those forces are alive and well today."

El-Sayed has also discussed how Islamic principles have shaped his personal life. A 2006 Michigan Daily profile described him as a particularly devout Muslim and detailed his relationship with his wife, Sarah Jukaku.

"Islamically, there are no premarital relations of any sort," El-Sayed told the newspaper. "No touching, no nothing. Given that, the logical solution is to get married."

The couple followed a traditional two-step marriage process that initially kept them living apart. They now have two daughters.

"Getting ice cream is the number-one thing we do together," El-Sayed said in 2006 about his married life.

Financial records provide another look at El-Sayed’s adherence to Islamic financial practices. His latest Senate financial disclosure states that he and Jukaku hold between $150,000 and $425,000 in Amana Mutual Funds, which operate funds designed around Islamic investment principles.

Those funds exclude investments involving certain prohibited sources of revenue, including interest, gambling, alcohol, tobacco, pornography, and pork.

The Free Beacon also reported that Amana co-founder and chairman Yaqub Mirza was identified in a 1988 FBI memo as a member or leader of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Federal agents raided Mirza’s home in 2002 as part of an investigation involving the Safa Group, a network of Islamic organizations based in Virginia.

No charges were filed, and Amana Funds itself was not subjected to serious scrutiny during that investigation.

Sam Westrop, director of the Middle East Forum’s Islamist Watch project, told the Free Beacon that the State Department’s January designation of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood "should theoretically have made Safa (and thus Amana) a law enforcement target again."

He also said federal authorities have shown little interest in Safa since the early-2000s raids.

El-Sayed’s campaign maintains that his religious observance is separate from his approach to government.

The renewed examination of his past comments comes as he moves toward the general election and as voters consider his record, religious beliefs, and political positions.

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