While the office of the mufti was gradually subsumed into the state bureaucracy in much of the Sunni Muslim world, Shia religious establishment followed a different path in Iran starting from the early modern era. During Safavid rule, independent Islamic jurists ("mujtahids") claimed the authority to represent the hidden imam. Under the "usuli" doctrine that prevailed among Twelver Shias in the 18th century and under the Qajar dynasty, the "mujtahids" further claimed to act collectively as deputies of the imam. According to this doctrine, all Muslims are supposed to follow a high-ranking living "mujtahid" bearing the title of "marja' al-taqlid", whose fatwas are considered binding, unlike fatwas in Sunni Islam. Thus, in contrast to Sunni muftis, Shia "mujtahids" gradually achieved increasing independence from the state.