Imam Ahmad meneruskan tradisi gurunya, Imam asy-Syafi'i, serta tradisi para imam terdahulu, dengan berusaha menanamkan kepada murid-muridnya penghormatan yang tinggi terhadap sumber-sumber Islam dan sikap menjauhi taklid buta terhadap pendapat para ulama. Namun, oleh kerana taqlid mula berakar di kalangan sebahagian pengikut imam-imam terdahulu, Ahmad mengambil tindakan yang lebih tegas lagi. Jika Abu Hanifah tidak menggalakkan murid-muridnya mencatat semua pendapatnya, Imam Ahmad melarang mereka daripada mencatat walau satu pun pendapatnya. Oleh itu, mazhabnya tidak dibukukan secara bertulis sehingga zaman 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 jelas dalam kata-katanya yang dicatat oleh Ibn Qayyim berikut ini:

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

"Jangan ikut secara membuta tuli fatwa saya, fatwa Malik, asy-Syafi'i, al-Auza'i atau ath-Thauri. Ambillah (hukum-hukum) dari mana mereka mengambilnya."209 Demikian juga dalam pernyataan beliau yang lain, yang dirawikan oleh Ibnu 'Abdil-Barr. Beliau berkata, "Pendapat al-Auza'i, Malik dan Abu Hanifah hanyalah pendapat semata, dan bagi saya semuanya sama. Namun kriteria benar atau salah yang sebenarnya terdapat dalam hadis."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

Keutamaan Imam terhadap hadis berbanding pendapat begitu besar sehingga beliau biasa mengutamakan hadis yang lemah daripada hukum yang dikeluarkan melalui ijtihad.

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

Kecintaan beliau terhadap Sunnah Nabi, yang beliau himpunkan sendiri dalam sebuah karya besar lebih daripada 30,000 hadis bernama al-Musnad al-Kabeer, sangat mendalam sehinggakan beliau turut memberi amaran keras kepada mereka yang berani mengabaikan sesuatu hadis Nabi ﷺ. Ibnu al-Jawzi meriwayatkan bahawa Imam Ahmad berkata, "Sesiapa yang menolak hadis sahih daripada utusan Allah ﷺ, maka dia hampir kepada kebinasaan."211 Nabi ﷺ telah memberikan perintah berikut kepada para sahabat dan kaum Muslimin secara umumnya: "Sampaikanlah apa yang kamu dengar daripadaku, walaupun hanya satu ayat (daripada al-Qur'an)."212 Hal ini bertujuan supaya petunjuk ilahi tersedia bagi semua generasi umat Islam sehingga Hari Kiamat. Oleh sebab itu, Imam Ahmad berjuang dengan penuh waspada menentang apa sahaja yang berpotensi menghalang penyampaian petunjuk ilahi kepada generasinya serta 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.