Dr. Jaafar Sheikh Idris was born on June 15, 1931 in Port Sudan, Sudan. In addition to the modern school system, he studied Quran in traditional Quranic schools. He also studied Fiqh, Hadith and the Arabic Language under traditional teachers in the city and studied Aqeedah with Ansar al-Sunnah.

He obtained his Ph.D. (Philosophy), from the University of Khartoum/University of London in 1970. The topic of his doctorate thesis was "The Concept of the Causality in Islam."
He has worked as consultant for various Islamic organizations around the world.  He also was the chairman of the founding council of the American Open University. In addition to working as a consultant and chairman, he also served as professor of Islamic Studies and director of the Research Center of The Institute of Islamic and Arabic Sciences in America. At Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, a religious university in Saudi Arabia, he was professor of Islamic Studies in the Aqeedah, Da’wah and Information departments.

He has lectured at many universities, academic institutes, and Islamic centers in many parts of the Islamic and western worlds. He has also participated in research at many different conferences around the world.

Additionally, he has authored many articles and research papers.