Shariadmatari, Muhammad Kazem (1899–1986)

Iranian religious leader, head of the Shiite community in Iran 1970–79. He advocated the creation of a modern and democratic Islamic state, which was tolerant of its minorities, at ease with new technologies and moderate towards the West. Consequently, he was critical of the excesses of the fundamentalist Islamic Revolution of 1979, including Khomeini's use of the messianic title of Imam and the capture of US hostages. In late 1979 he gave his blessing to the formation of the Muslim People's Republican Party (MPRP), a broad anti-Khomeini coalition that spearheaded a revolt in Tabriz, where Shariatmadari commanded a large following, particularly among ethnic Azerbaijanis. This attempted counter-revolution was crushed by the Khomeini regime and Shariatmadari was persuaded to order closure of the MPRP. Two years later, after being implicated in another coup attempt, he was placed under house arrest.

Born in Tabriz, Shariatmadari studied Islamic law and philosophy at Qom, where he was a classmate of Ruhulla Khomeini. In the 1930s he carried out further studies in An Najaf, Iraq, and then taught in Tabriz and Qom. During the 1960s he vied with Khomeini, who was exiled from 1963 for his anti-modernization views, for leadership of Iran's Shiite establishment and in 1970, on the death of Ayatollah Muhsin Hakim, he became head of the Shiite community within Iran, but Khomeini was its leader in exile.