Imam Ahmad melanjutkan tradisi gurunya, Imam asy-Syafi'i, serta tradisi para imam sebelumnya, yaitu dengan berusaha menanamkan pada murid-muridnya rasa hormat yang tinggi terhadap sumber-sumber Islam dan sikap tidak suka terhadap taklid buta kepada pendapat para ulama. Namun, karena taklid mulai berakar di kalangan sebagian pengikut para imam terdahulu, Ahmad mengambil tindakan yang lebih tegas lagi. Jika Abu Hanifah menganjurkan murid-muridnya untuk tidak mencatat seluruh pendapatnya, Imam Ahmad bahkan melarang murid-muridnya mencatat pendapatnya sama sekali. Oleh karena itu, mazhabnya tidak dihimpun dalam bentuk tertulis hingga masa murid-muridnya.

Imaam Ahmad carried on the tradition of his teacher, Imaam ash-Shaafi’ee as well as that of the earlier Imaams by trying to instill in his students a high respect for the sources of Islaam and a disdain for rigid imitation of scholars’ opinions. But, because Taqleed had begun to take root among some of the followers of the earlier Imaams, Ahmad took even more drastic action. Whereas Abu Haneefah discouraged his students from recording all of his opinions, Imaam Ahmad forbade them from recording any of his opinions at all. Thus, his Madh-hab was not compiled in written form until the era of his students.

Ahmad sangat tegas dalam peringatannya terhadap taqlid, sebagaimana tampak dalam perkataannya berikut yang dicatat oleh Ibnu Qayyim:

Ahmad was very explicit in his warnings against Taqleed, as is evident in the following saying of his recorded by Ibn Qayyim:

"Jangan mengikuti begitu saja fatwaku, fatwa Mālik, asy-Syāfi‘ī, al-Auzā‘ī, atau ats-Tsaurī. Ambillah (hukum-hukum) dari sumber tempat mereka mengambilnya."209 Demikian pula dalam pernyataan lain yang diriwayatkan oleh Ibnu ‘Abdil-Barr, beliau berkata, "Pendapat al-Auzā‘ī, Mālik, dan Abū Ḥanīfah hanyalah pendapat semata, dan bagiku semuanya sama. Namun ukuran benar atau salah yang sesungguhnya terdapat dalam hadits-hadits."210

“Do not blindly follow my rulings, those of Maalik, ash-Shaafi’ee, al-Awzaa’ee or ath-Thawree, Take (your rulings) from whence they took theirs.”209 Similarly, in another of his statements recorded by Ibn ‘Abdul-Barr. He said, “The opinions of al-Awzaa’ee, Maalik and Abu Haneefah are simply opinions and to me they are all equal, but the real criterion for right or wrong is in the Hadeeths.”210

Kecenderungan Imam terhadap hadits daripada pendapat begitu besar sehingga beliau biasa lebih mengutamakan hadits yang lemah daripada hukum hasil ijtihad.

The Imaam’s preference for Hadeeths over opinions was so great that he used to prefer a weak Hadeeth over a deduced ruling.

Kecintaannya kepada Sunnah Nabi (s.w.), yang ia himpun sendiri dalam sebuah karya besar berisi lebih dari 30.000 hadits bernama al-Musnad al-Kabeer, begitu besar sehingga ia juga memberikan peringatan keras kepada siapa pun yang berani mengabaikan sebuah hadits Nabi ﷺ. Ibnul-Jawzi meriwayatkan bahwa Imam Ahmad berkata, "Barangsiapa menolak sebuah hadits sahih dari Rasulullah ﷺ, maka ia berada di ambang kehancuran."211 Nabi ﷺ telah memberikan perintah berikut kepada para sahabatnya dan kaum Muslimin pada umumnya: "Sampaikanlah apa yang kalian dengar dariku, walaupun hanya satu ayat (dari Al-Qur'an)."212 Hal itu bertujuan agar petunjuk ilahi tersedia bagi seluruh generasi kaum Muslimin hingga Hari Kiamat. Karena itu, Imam Ahmad berjuang dengan penuh kewaspadaan melawan segala sesuatu yang berpotensi menghalangi sampainya petunjuk ilahi kepada generasinya maupun generasi-generasi yang akan datang.

His respect for the Sunnah of the Prophet (s.w.), which he himself collected in a major work of over 30,000 Hadeeths called al-Musnad Al-Kabeer, was so great that he also gave severe warnings to those who would dare disregard a Hadeeth of the Prophet (s.w.). Ibn alJawzee reported that Imaam Ahmad said, “Whoever rejects an authentic Hadeeth of Allaah’s messenger (s.w.) is on the verge of destruction.”211 The Prophet (s.w.) had given the following order to his companions and Muslims in general: “Convey what you have heard from me, even if it is only a verse (from the Qur’aan),”212 in order that divine guidance would be available to all generations of Muslims until the Last Day. Because of that, Imaam Ahmad fought vigilantly against anything which could possibly interfere with the conveyance of divine guidance to his generation as well as those to come.