 Traditionally, the title Ayatollah was awarded by popular usage to prominent figures only –who were necessarily a "Mujtahid"– and it was reserved for the very few highest ranking clerics.Plus qualification as a definite "Mujtahid", such person was regarded among his peers superior in "aʿlamīyat" () and "riyāsat" (), the latter being determined by popular acclamation, as well as collecting a huge amount of "Khums" (religious taxes).Those conditions being applied, by 1960s a cleric addressed as an Ayatollah was expected to be a "Marja'".