Religious leader. Ayatollah al-Shirazi was a moderate and reformist cleric among the religious leaders in Iran. He believed in collegiality and equality among eminent theologians and advocated the acceptance of plurality and open scholarly discourse and disagreement. He tried to separate the spiritual leadership from Iran's political leadership. He was a highly respected scholar who had written over 1,000 books during his lifetime. Al-Shirazi was born in Iraq and was described as 'a pioneer of the peace and non-violent theory in Islamic action.' and died following a stroke. His followers ranged from wide areas of the Middle East.