Imam Khomeini had three fundamental dimensions: knowledge, insight and political action concurrent with the requirements of the time.
In the realm of knowledge and insight, he not only possessed a jurisprudential outlook, but also a superior philosophical and mystical attitude.
In political action, he was not only an expert and great revolutionary leader but also the founder of a political and social system.
Imam Khomeini had derived the foundation of his philosophical and mystical attitude from mentors such as Haj Sayyid Abu 'l Hasan Qazvini (died in 1342 AHS) known as 'Allamah Qazvini, who had said about accompanying the Imam:
"Accompany this Sayyid, for if you do not, you will become abject, Ayatullah Shah Abadi, the moderate and comprehensive moralist and 'Ali-Akbar Yazdi, known as hakim (sage or savant). In 1347 AH, Imam Khomeini began teaching philosophy at the age of 27. He began teaching fiqh (jurisprudence) and usul (fundamentals of fiqh) 17 years later in 1364 AH and this was done in conditions described as follows:
In those days, these words were bandied about in the theological seminary: "one who teaches philosophy and be so pious has not been seen in a theological seminary."
Therefore, Imam Khomeini's philosophical and mystical attitude preceded his jurisprudential approach.
This had produced a determining impact on his jurisprudential conceptions.
On this basis, he was a rationalist thinker and contrary to many of the fuqaha (jurists) in whose view religiosity took precedence over rationalism (ta'aqqul) or superior to it, in the Imam's viewpoint a logical combination of both was in force.
In this arena he viewed religiosity as subject to rationalism.
The reason was his approach to philosophy and thereafter to 'irfan(mysticism).