Born in a middle class business family of South Kashmir's Kadipora town in district Anantnag on June 14, 1953, Shabir Ahmad Shah did his early schooling at Government Middle School, Sarnal, Anantnag and passed higher secondary examination from M.I.
Shah's father Ghulam Mohammad Shah, who was a Block Development Officer who died in police custody in 1989 after being repeatedly harassed by security agencies following Shabir Shah's political affiliations.