Zohran Mamdani: NYC Mayor Hopeful With Interfaith Roots

Zohran Mamdani: Son of Hindu-Muslim Parents

Zohran Kwame Mamdani, Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City, is the son of Hindu mother Mira Nair and Muslim father Mahmood Mamdani. Mira is an acclaimed Indian-American filmmaker, and Mahmood is a Ugandan political scientist of Indian origin, with ancestral roots in Gujarat, India. In early 2025, Zohran had an Islamic nikah with Brooklyn-based Syrian-American artist Rama Duwaji.

Zohran Mamdani

Zohran Mamdani is a progressive American politician currently serving as a member of the New York State Assembly from the 36th district in Queens, a position he has held since 2021. He is affiliated with both the Democratic Party and the Democratic Socialists of America.

Zohran’s family moved to New York City when he was seven. He attended the Bank Street School for Children, followed by the Bronx High School of Science. He later graduated from Bowdoin College in Maine in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in Africana Studies.

Mira Nair: Mother

Mira Nair is a renowned Indian-American filmmaker based in New York. Her body of work includes both documentaries and feature films that often address social and cultural issues. She founded the production company Mirabai Films. Some of her most celebrated films include Mississippi Masala, The Namesake, Monsoon Wedding (winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival), and Salaam Bombay!, which received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Film Not in the English Language award.

Born in Rourkela, Odisha, Mira was raised in a Hindu family. Her father, Amrit Lal Singh Nair, was an officer in the Indian Administrative Service, and her mother, Praveen Nair, was a social worker.

Mira enrolled at Delhi University in 1975 and transferred to Harvard University the following year, where she met her first husband, photographer Mitchell Epstein, a Jewish American from Massachusetts and her teacher at Harvard. They were married for eight years and together for twelve, before divorcing in 1987. Their fun-filled Punjabi wedding inspired scenes later recreated in Monsoon Wedding (2001).

Mahmood Mamdani: Father

Mahmood Mamdani was born on April 23, 1946, in Mumbai to Yusuf Bhai Mamdani, a modest Gujarati poet who later worked as a clerk and carpet auctioneer. Mahmood was raised in Kampala, Uganda.

He is a distinguished Ugandan academic and political thinker based in New York City. He currently serves as the Herbert Lehman Professor of Government and professor of anthropology, political science, and African studies at Columbia University. He is also the Chancellor of Kampala International University in Uganda.

Marriage of Mira and Mahmood

Mira Nair met Mahmood Mamdani in 1989 while researching Mississippi Masala in Kampala. She had previously read one of his books written during his exile in London and sought him out for an interview. Their professional connection soon blossomed into a romantic one.

Though Mira had been previously married and was hesitant to marry again, her perspective changed when she became pregnant. Their son, Zohran, was born on October 18, 1991. That same year, the couple held an intimate wedding in Toronto at Mira’s cousin’s home. Only eight people were present. Mamdani read a poem written by his father, and Mira’s six-year-old niece declared them married. They later formally registered their marriage in New York.

Nair has been an enthusiastic yoga practitioner for decades; when making a film, she has the cast and crew start the day with a yoga session. She wears a signature bindi on her forehead. While Mira married into a Muslim family, she did not convert. Mahmood was not a practicing Muslim. Mira once stated that she would never wear a burqa or even a hijab, describing such acts as conformist. She preferred not to be labeled by religious or sectarian identity.

Zohran’s Marriage to Rama Duwaji

Zohran Mamdani married Syrian-American artist Rama Duwaji in early 2025. The couple held an engagement and nikah (Islamic marriage contract ceremony) on December 22, 2024, in Dubai, where Rama’s family resides. Rama’s specific Islamic sub-sect has not been publicly reported, but likely Shia.

Religious Identity

Zohran identifies as a Shia Muslim, specifically from the Twelver (Ithnā‘Ashari) branch—the largest denomination within Shia Islam, also known as Imamism, characterized by belief in the Twelve Imams and the occultation of the twelfth Imam, Imam al-Mahdi. In the U.S., Shia Muslims form a minority within the Muslim community.

Zohran has identified himself as Gujarati Muslim, reflecting his paternal roots in the Indian state of Gujarat, and he is fluent in Hindi, India’s national language. It is unclear whether he has ever identified with his mother’s Hindu faith in any public or personal capacity.

Despite his parents’ largely secular and interfaith union—reflected in their religiously distinct first names and overall non-religious outlook—Zohran has adopted a more clearly defined religious identity. Whether his religious identification stems from personal conviction or is shaped in part by political considerations remains open to interpretation.