Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Al-Shirazi was initially a leading figure in the Iranian revolution, especially as the Shiraziyyins' concept of clerical rule, Hukumat al-Fuqaha', was a key influence on Khomeini's concept of velayet-e faqih.
Al-Shirazi was in his later years a vocal critic of Khomeini's system of government and Khamenei's position as a marja and supreme leader, instead advocating Al-Shirazi's alternative theory of clerical rule.