About Kazem Shariatmadari Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari (Persian: محمد کاظم شریعتمداری), also spelled Shariat-Madari (1905, Tabriz – 3 April 1986, Tehran), was an Iranian Grand Ayatollah. Born to an Azeri family in Tabriz, he was among the most senior leading Twelver Shi'a clerics in Iran and Iraq and was known for his forward looking and liberal views. After the death of Supreme and Grand Ayatollah Borujerdi (Marja' Mutlaq) in 1961 he became one of the leading marjas, with followers in Iran, especially Pakistan, India, Lebanon, Kuwait and the southern Persian Gulf states. In 1963, he prevented the Shah from executing Ayatollah Khomeini by recognizing him as a Grand Ayatollah, since according to the Iranian constitution a Marja' could not be executed. Khomeini was exiled instead. As the leading Mujtahid he was the head of Qom's seminary until Khomeini's arrival. He was in favour of the traditional Shiite view of keeping clerics away from governmental positions and a vehement critic of Khomeini. He headed the Centre for Islamic Study and Publications and was the administrator of the Fatima Madrasa in Qum. At the time of the Iranian revolution in 1979, Shariatmadari was the leading Grand Ayatollah in Qom.