 He became a Professor of Modern History of the Gulf at the University of Sharjah in 1999.In 2008 he also became a Visiting Professor at Cairo University.His eldest son from his first marriage, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Sultan Al Qasimi (1974–1999) was the crown prince of the emirate and died after a heroin overdose at the Emir's residence in Wych Cross Place, near Forest Row, East Grinstead on April 3, 1999 at the age of 24 years.