Tarik Shah (January 24, 1963) is an African American Muslim with a career as a professional jazz musician. As the sole student of Slam Stewart, Shah began playing the upright bass at age 12 and went on to play with Betty Carter, Ahmad Jamal, Abbey Lincoln and Art Taylor among others. He is a composer, a jazz educator, and lyricist. An expert in martial arts, Mr. Shah was arrested in May 2005 at the age of 42 in New York City, accused and eventually charged with providing aid for terrorist activity based on evidence from an FBI sting. He initially pled not guilty to all charges. After 31 months of solitary confinement, he was convinced a fair trial was unlikely given the Islamophobia following 9-11. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.According to the complaint, both also made a formal oath of loyalty, called a bayat, to al-Qaeda in a meeting with an undercover F.B.I. agent that was secretly recorded. An indictment handed up by a federal grand jury Monday accused the men of conspiring to provide material support for terrorism, specifically for al-Qaeda. It was less than a page long and added no details.Mr. Shah's case is represented as an example of the U.S. government's use of agent provocateurs who entrap or set up "innocent or unaware Muslims who had no interest in terrorism" targeting individuals for "preemptive prosecution." They hung out at mosques and bookstores frequented by faithful Muslims to develop rapport leading to friendship. They offered money "to anyone who will join them in jihad."
In 2007, Reuters reported that Shah pleaded guilty to "one count of conspiring to support al Qaeda. In exchange, prosecutors dropped one of the terrorism charges against him."
Two undercover FBI agents (a.k.a. informants) were involved in Shah's entrapment case. Yemeni informant Mohamed Alanssi targeted Shah on December 1, 2001, months after 9-11, at Farhane’s Islamic bookstore in New York City. Theodore Shelby, an ex-convict and former Black Panther using the name Saeed, "was sent by the government to approach Mr. Shah under the guise of seeking bass lessons." Saeed became the subject of the 2015 film (T)ERROR, winner of a Sundance Special Jury Prize for Breakout First Feature Film in 2015, which won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Investigative Documentary in 2017. It is the only documentary to capture an active, FBI undercover sting. Shah's case is offered as previous case.
Life and work
Shah began learning to play double bass at age twelve and went on to study with Slam Stewart.
His father, Edward Jenkins Jr., nicknamed Dyson, was known as Lieutenant Edward 15X in Malcolm X’s Temple No. 7 (now the Masjid Malcolm Shabazz) in Harlem, which had been a Nation of Islam mosque until the death of its founder, Elijah Muhammad, in 1975.
In 1984, Shah toured across Europe with Betty Carter and worked with Ahmad Jamal, Abbey Lincoln, and Rahn Burton after his return. He later played with the Duke Ellington Orchestra alongside Red Rodney, Sir Roland Hanna, Harold Vick, and Dr. Lonnie Smith. Shah also worked with Vanessa Rubin, the World Saxophone Quartet, and Hamiet Bluiett. In 1992, he was invited to play with the Duke Ellington Orchestra for the inaugural ball of President Bill Clinton. Shah’s older brother, Antoine Dowdell, also musically gifted, worked as a music teacher and jazz pianist.
Shah's other passion is martial arts, which he taught to children, police and corrections officers, and the community as a method of self-defense via his Expansion of Knowledge School of Martial Arts in Harlem. He attained the level of Master in Vee Arnis Jitsu, a style of Filipino martial arts, and Sanuces Ryu Jujutsu, a style of American Jiu Jitsu.
Targeting by the FBI
Shah was arrested by the FBI in a sting operation that began in 2001.
Shah and his youngest sister were named by Malcolm X and raised as Sunni Muslims in Temple No. 7––perhaps one of the reasons Shah was later targeted by the FBI, accused of providing aid to al-Qaeda, "even though no actual terrorist contact ever took place."
He pleaded guilty in 2007 to one count of conspiring to provide aid to a known foreign terrorist organization, namely al-Qaeda. Shah was released from prison after 13 years in March 2018. Project SALAM describes his case as an example of preemptive prosecution.