Egyptian-Origin Abdul, 21, And Indian-Origin Sarah, 19, Met At University Of Michigan And Married In May 2006
Abdul El-Sayed was 21 years old when he married Sarah Jukaku in May 2006. She was 19 years old at the time.
Their love story began as undergraduate students at the University of Michigan.
Both were associated with the university’s Muslim Students’ Association, where their friendship blossomed into a relationship that moved quickly.
“When he proposed to me, I was a freshman,” Jukaku told The Michigan Daily in 2006. “I was young, and one of the things he said was, ‘We’re still growing, now we can grow together.’”
El-Sayed has always been open about wanting to marry young and build a life on commitment and shared growth.
“I was going to meet one girl and I was going to marry her,” he said. “In some senses, I feel like that’s the purest form of a relationship with someone. It cuts out all the B.S.”
“Being able to grow with your significant other is an experience that a lot of people miss out on,” he added. “[Sarah and I] are happy and lucky to have the opportunity, thank God.”
The couple got married in May 2006, while they were still undergraduates, and celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary earlier this year.
“What does anyone do when they get married? You find the person you want to marry and you marry them,” El-Sayed said.
Sarah Jukaku is a psychiatrist with a private practice in Michigan, and also holds a leadership role at University of Michigan Health. Like her husband, she attended undergrad at the University of Michigan. She went on to earn a master’s degree from the University of Oxford, and her M.D. from Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons in 2015. She completed residencies in psychiatry at Cornell University and University of Michigan Ann Arbor.
Sarah was born and raised in Michigan to an Indian immigrant family. Her family traces its roots to Bhatkal, a coastal town in Karnataka’s Uttara Kannada district, around 140 km from Mangaluru.
Her father, Dr. Tayeb Jukaku, is a nephrologist who originally hails from Bhatkal. Her grandfather, Jukaku Shamshuddin, was a prominent lawyer, educator, and political figure who served as deputy minister for finance in the erstwhile Mysore State under Chief Minister B.D. Jatti.
El-Sayed, who is of Egyptian origin, often jokes about how much Indian influence there is in his family after 20 years of marriage into a South Indian family.
“Listen, I’ve been married in a South Indian family for 20 years, like… I am well inducted now. You know, I might be more Indian than I am Arab,” he said.
On another occasion, he affectionately described his family as being “surrounded by desi women,” referring to his wife and their two daughters.
Together, the couple’s household is a mix of Egyptian heritage and South Indian roots. They live in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and have two daughters: Emmalee and Serene.
The parents have kept their daughters out of the public eye and do not share their faces online.
El-Sayed has often spoken about how his family keeps him grounded.
“I am boundlessly blessed to have Sarah as my life partner and mother to our daughters. No one else I’d rather have by my side,” he wrote on Instagram.
In another heartfelt message to Jukaku, he wrote: “She’s the best of us. To my wife, my best friend, and mom to our girls, I couldn’t do any of this without you.”
Jukaku has also spoken about their home life, saying he has “goofy dance parties” with their daughters and plenty of “corny dad jokes,” and jokingly told friends: “Nobody tells him what to do except me!”
El-Sayed has also reflected on fatherhood.
“Your relationship with your kids evolves over time. You know, as soon as they’re born, you know they’re going to be the most important people in your life,” he said.
From meeting as two students at the University of Michigan to marrying at 21 and 19 as undergraduates and raising two daughters, the couple have built a life together over 20 years — a journey that began in the middle of university lectures.
