He ran for the seat of the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as a candidate of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) (JUI-F) from Constituency PF-13 (Charsadda) in the 1988 Pakistani general election, but was unsuccessful. He received 7,773 votes and lost the seat to a candidate of Awami National Party (ANP).[2]
He ran for the seat of the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as a candidate of JUI-F from Constituency PF-13 (Charsadda) in the 1990 Pakistani general election, but was unsuccessful. He received 12,457 votes and lost the seat to a candidate of ANP.[2]
He ran for the seat of the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as a candidate of Islami Jamhoori Mahaz (IJM) from Constituency PF-13 (Charsadda) in the 1993 Pakistani general election, but was unsuccessful. He received 8.728 votes and lost the seat to a candidate of ANP.[2]
Shah ran for the seat of National Assembly of Pakistan as a candidate of JUI-F from Constituency NA-5 (Charsadda) in the 1997 Pakistani general election, but was unsuccessful.[3] He received 34,733 votes and lost the seat to Asfandyar Wali Khan.[4]
Shah was elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) from Constituency NA-7 (Charsadda-I) in the 2002 Pakistani general election.[5][6][3][7] He received 55,917 votes and defeated Asfandyar Wali Khan.[8]
He ran for the seat of the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as a candidate of MMA from Constituency PK-20 (Charsadda-IV) in the 2008 Pakistani general election, but was unsuccessful. He secured 4,860 votes and lost the seat to Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao.[9]
Shah was re-elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of JUI-F from Constituency NA-7 (Charsadda-I) in the 2013 Pakistani general election.[10][11] He received 53,610 votes and defeated a candidate of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.[12]