For his activities, he was repeatedly subjected to reprisals by the authorities, arrests and imprisonment, for example, for resisting Ibrahim Abboud military regime was sentenced to five years in prison in 1959.

Since June 1967, he has headed the Sudanese Committee for the Protection of the Rights of Arab Peoples, formed in response to Six-Day war.

[14][15] We were at peace The Wadi high in uproar Hantoub high protested Tagat high got in higher drunk We are at peace Inside a park Oh ya oh ya Comrade Wasila sing us the tunes of struggle Safr (He just left) Hamz al-Jack revolted and we are his followers Safr Tomorrow el-Shafie will break his chains Safr God bless Korea and the young of Korea Oh ya oh ya In July 1971, after the short-lived coup of Major Hashim Al-Atta and a counter-coup, the Sudanese authorities of the general Jaafar Nimeiry accused el-Sheikh and other representatives of the Communist Party leadership (such as Abdel Khaliq Mahjub[17] and Joseph Garang) in involvement in the coup attempt.

"[citation needed] In total, eleven officers, five civilians executed, hundreds of detainees, pursuers, and expelled from their jobs.

The ILO Committee recommends deferring further examination of the case until the government provides its response to additional allegations and information presented by the World Federation of Trade Unions.

[26] On 2 May 2007, Fatima Ahmed Ibrahim, el-Sheikh wife and a prominent member of the Sudanese Communist Party and a parliamentarian, was suspended from participating in parliamentary sessions for a month and was denied her allowances.

This decision was made after she physically attacked Abulgassim Mohamed Ibrahim [ar], a representative of the National Congress Party (NCP), during a session.

The NCP condemned the incident, and the Assembly launched an investigation, expressing concerns about potential negative portrayal of Sudan in the international media.