El‑Sayed’s Half‑Sister Posts 'October 7' Blessing; Video Prompts Political Backlash

University of Chicago professor Eman Abdelhadi, the half sister of Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El‑Sayed, posted an "October 7th blessing" on Instagram on Oct. 7, 2024 — the first anniversary of large‑scale Hamas attacks that killed roughly 1,200 people.

Abdelhadi opens the short video saying,

"I want to say, Allahu Akbar,"

which she describes as meaning "God is greater" and as an important phrase in Muslim worship. She explains that the phrase has stayed with her over the past year because it reminds her that "no matter how great the brutality, the oppression, the intensity of what we're going through, the horizon of justice is just around the corner."

In the recording Abdelhadi does not explicitly mention the Israelis or the Jewish victims of the Oct. 7 attacks. She appears on camera wearing a keffiyeh, a patterned scarf associated with Palestinian identity and sometimes linked to militant movements.

Collaboration With Rabbis4Ceasefire

The clip was posted as a collaborative message by Abdelhadi and the group Rabbis4Ceasefire, which described it as an "October 7th blessing from Eman Abdelhadi, Scholar, Writer & Organizer." Abdelhadi later commented that Rabbis4Ceasefire had framed the event as "a moment of grief for lives lost between 10/7/23 and 10/7/2024," and that her contribution was an "offering" to that gathering.

Political Fallout

The resurfaced video drew sharp criticism online and was seized on by opponents in the Michigan Senate race. Republican campaign accounts and commentators used the clip to criticize Abdul El‑Sayed. A campaign spokeswoman for El‑Sayed said, "Abdul loves his sister and also disagrees with her on a number of political positions and the rhetoric she's chosen to use, including on foreign policy," and urged voters to focus on El‑Sayed's record and platform.

Reporting notes that Abdelhadi has a history of activism and legal trouble: she was reportedly arrested in October 2025 after an alleged incident during protests outside a suburban Chicago ICE detention center, and was charged with counts including aggravated battery to a government employee and resisting or obstructing a peace officer.

Context On El‑Sayed's Campaign

The matter is politically sensitive because Abdul El‑Sayed has faced scrutiny for his positions and associations related to the Israel‑Palestine conflict while campaigning. Critics point to fundraising emails and public statements in which he criticized Israeli military operations without expressly naming Hamas's initial killings, and to campaign appearances with controversial figures such as streamer Hasan Piker. El‑Sayed has described some of those remarks as "dumb" but declined to fully disavow certain associates, characterizing some criticism as cancel culture.

Fox News Digital reported that Abdelhadi did not respond to requests for comment at the time of publication.

Note: This article summarizes public statements, social‑media posts, and campaign reactions as reported in the original coverage.