Shabazz was involved in the 1990 Jamaat al Muslimeen coup attempt under the group's leader Yasin Abu Bakr in his home country, with the belief that the army would support the uprising. The group was imprisoned for two years before the courts accepted the claim that their surrender had been based on a promise of amnesty; this was subsequently overturned by the Privy Council in London but the group were not re-arrested.