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'No Words Can Describe What He Meant To Me': Rep. Ilhan Omar's Father Dies From COVID-19 Complications

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar announced Monday night that her father, Nur Omar Mohamed, has passed away from complications of COVID-19. He was 67 years old.

Here is her full statement, which begins with a Quranic quote, first written in Arabic:

إِنَّا لِلّهِ وَإِنَّـا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ"

‎Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'cuun

‎Surely we belong to God and to Him shall we return.

It is with tremendous sadness and pain that I share that my father, Nur Omar Mohamed, passed away today due to complications from COVID-19. No words can describe what he meant to me and all who knew him. My family and I ask for your respect and privacy during this time.

She shared a photo of herself with her father last January, as she arrived in Washington to serve in Congress.

Ilhan Omar and her father
(credit: Ilhan Omar/Twitter)

The two had arrived in Washington 23 years earlier from a refugee camp in Kenya.

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