Who are the strangers mentioned in the hadith (Islam began as a stranger...)?

The Shaykh : Unfortunately, in this long life we have lived among the various strata of Muslims, from their scholars to those below them, we know that this concern is completely absent, except for a very few individuals, in our belief, who are those the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) described in his saying in the authentic hadith: Now, in order to remove doubts and difficulties, do you not think, Professor, that Islam is in a state of estrangement?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Well, so this hadith is true of us now. If a questioner asked us: Who are the strangers? We believe that if it were said that they are everyone who adheres to one of the four schools of jurisprudence, that would not be accurate. Why? First, because he is biased toward one imam over the other imams, and he limits the benefit to one imam over the others. Second, and most importantly, the definition the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) gave for the strangers does not apply to him. He was asked about them, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So now, let us be frank, as we have been in this session. Do you know among the scholars of the schools of jurisprudence that they repair what the people corrupted after the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) of his Sunnah? Or is this repair confined to a group? In some countries, they are called the Supporters of the Sunnah, as in Egypt, and in other countries, they are called the People of Hadith, as in India and Pakistan, and in some countries like Jordan and Syria and others, they are called the Salafis, and so on. What unites all of these people is that they try to be among the saved sect. Do you know, besides these people, despite their differing names and their agreement in their goal, do you know that there is someone who belongs to one of the four schools of jurisprudence who strives with the utmost effort to be a stranger as described by the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)? I say: Unfortunately, no. So we want from all the scholars of the Muslims, first, and then from the students of Islamic knowledge, second, and then from the students of all sciences, as long as Islam unites us with them, that they always sing with us and begin to be strangers like us. Of course, this is in their specializations. You are a doctor, for example, and I benefit from your knowledge and I cannot live without your knowledge. The believers are like one body, as you know in the authentic hadith. Likewise, we want from all individuals of the Muslims, differing in their specializations and studies, that they meet with us on a common word, which is the concern to be strangers in this time. Because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Blessed are the strangers. It is a tree in Paradise. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the authentic hadith: "Tabu" in the colloquial language means "blessed are they." Who are they? The strangers. What is their characteristic? If a scholar among the scholars of the Muslims repairs [what is corrupted], and you are not a scholar in this field, and you are content with what you have in your field of knowledge, you must be with them, you must be responsive to them in the call. So then, you enter into the blessing of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) for these strangers.