His family were part of the Tijaniyyah Sufi order, a group known for their hospitality and generosity, which would later shape El Sheikh's approach to medicine and treatment accessibility.

[1][4] Thus, after his brother's execution, El Sheikh decided to go to the UK, as he was awarded the World Health Organization (WHO) Research Fellow at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, and an Honorary Senior Registrar position in the Moorfields Eye Hospital between 1973–1978.

During that period, he completed epidemiology and medical statistics training at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (1975–1976).

[6] El Sheikh was involved in many projects to improve eye surgery with a keen interest in dacryocystorhinostomy and oculoplastic.

El Sheikh was the President of the Sudanese Ophthalmological Society (1979–1981), and since 1983, he was a member of the Executive Board of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness.

In 1995, the National Sudanese Society for Eye Treatment named their annual prize after El Sheikh in honor of his contributions to ophthalmology.

The Sudanese government awarded him the Gold Medal for Science, Literature and Arts and Az-Zubair Prize for Innovation and Scientific Excellence in 2003.