Imom Ahmad o‘zining ustozi Imom ash-Shofi‘iy va undan oldingi imomlarning yo‘lini davom ettirdi: shogirdlarida Islom manbalariga yuksak hurmat va ulamolar fikrlariga ko‘r-ko‘rona ergashishga nisbatan nafrat tuyg‘usini singdirishga intildi. Ammo ba’zi avvalgi imomlarning izdoshlari orasida taqlid ildiz ota boshlagani sababli, Ahmad yanada qat’iyroq choralar ko‘rdi. Abu Hanifa o‘z shogirdlariga barcha fikrlarini yozib olishni taqiqlagan bo‘lsa, Imom Ahmad ulardan uning hech bir fikrini yozib olmaslikni talab qildi. Shu sababli uning mazhabi yozma shaklda faqat uning shogirdlari davrigacha to‘planmagan edi.

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 juda aniq ogohlantirgan edi taqlidga qarshi, bu quyidagi, Ibn Qayyim tomonidan rivoyat qilingan so'zidan ayon bo'ladi:

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

“Mening hukmlarimga, Molik, ash-Shofi‘iy, al-Avzo‘iy yoki ath-Thavriy hukmlariga ko‘r-ko‘rona ergashmanglar. Qaerdan ular olgan bo‘lsa, siz ham o‘shandan oling.”209 Xuddi shunday, Ibn ‘Abdul-Barr rivoyat qilgan yana bir so‘zlarida u shunday degan: “Al-Avzo‘iy, Molik va Abu Hanifaning fikrlari shunchaki fikrlardir, men uchun ularning hammasi tengdir, ammo to‘g‘ri yoki noto‘g‘ri ekanini ajratadigan haqiqiy mezon hadislardir.”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

Imomning hadislarni shaxsiy fikrlardan afzal ko‘rishi shunchalik kuchli edi-ki, u hatto zaif hadisni ham chiqarilgan hukmdan afzal bilar edi.

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

Uning Sunnatiga, ya'ni Payg'ambar (s.a.v.)ning sunnatiga bo'lgan hurmati shunchalik buyuk ediki, u o'zi to'plagan 30 000 dan ortiq hadisni o'z ichiga olgan "al-Musnad al-Kabir" nomli yirik asarda, Payg'ambar (s.a.v.)ning biror hadisini rad etishga jur'at etganlarga qattiq ogohlantirishlar ham bergan. Ibn al-Javziy rivoyat qilishicha, Imom Ahmad shunday degan: "Allohning elchisi (s.a.v.)ning sahih hadisini rad etgan kishi halokat yoqasidadir."211 Payg'ambar (s.a.v.) o'z sahobalariga va umuman musulmonlarga quyidagi amrni bergan: "Mendan eshitganingizni, hatto bitta oyat bo'lsa ham, yetkazing"212, toki Qiyomat kunigacha barcha musulmon avlodlariga ilohiy hidoyat yetib borsin. Shuning uchun Imom Ahmad ham o'z avlodiga, shuningdek kelajak avlodlarga ilohiy hidoyatning yetkazilishiga to'sqinlik qilishi mumkin bo'lgan har qanday narsaga qarshi jonkuyarlik bilan kurashgan.

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.