The growing visibility of a grand ayatollah in Iran’s holy city of Qom is arousing the anger of hard-liners who consider him dangerous because he promotes a secular and nonpolitical direction for the seminary there.
Last year, Ayatollah Sayyed Mohammad Javad Alavi Boroujerdi declared himself a marja — a title given to the highest level of Shiite authority. This didn't sit well with Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, the powerful chairman of the Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom, who recently berated Boroujerdi publicly.