Does affiliation with the Salaf mean that you affiliate with an individual from among them, or with the group of them?

The Shaykh : I said that affiliation with the righteous Salaf does not mean affiliation with an individual, but rather affiliation with the group about whom Allah (Mighty and Majestic) praised them in His Book, and he (peace be upon him) confirmed that in his hadith, especially the famous hadith: . These are the righteous Salaf. If a Muslim affiliates with them, it means he has affiliated with infallibility, and it means he has held fast to the firm rope from which there is no severance, because the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is at its head. Therefore, affiliation with the righteous Salaf contains nothing of the pre-Islamic tribalism that often manifests in some of the old sectarian affiliations and some of the modern party affiliations. The pre-Islamic tribalism is clearly and distinctly represented in these newly invented affiliations, because its effects appear, and indeed its effects have appeared over this long period up to the present day. For example, if we study the pre-Islamic tribalism that occurred in the fanaticism of some of the madhhab followers who affiliate with one of the imams, we would see the astonishing and we would find that these people are as if Allah (Mighty and Majestic) had commanded them to do so and not forbidden them, as in His saying (Mighty and Majestic): .
We have found in some of the madhahib a case where someone was asked if it is valid for a Hanafi to marry a Shafi'i. They answered in the negative, that it is not permissible. He supported his claim by saying that the Shafi'is who affiliate with Imam Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) doubt their faith when they are asked, "Are you a believer?" and they say, "Insha'Allah." The questioner ruled, following his madhhab, that these Shafi'is who answer the question, "I am a believer, if Allah wills," are doubting in their faith. They said, and whoever doubts in his faith has committed disbelief, so how can you marry a Shafi'i girl who doubts in her faith? This is a real matter, not an imagination; it can be defended as existing in the depths of books to this day. The whole problem is that it appears to be mercy on the surface, but in its essence it is torment. The whole problem is that after that, the mufti who came later, a man from the senior Hanafi scholars known as Abu al-Sa'ud, the mufti of the two groups, who has a famous printed book of tafsir today, was asked the same question: Is it permissible for a Hanafi to marry a Shafi'i? He answered in the affirmative, but he brought a cause that one wishes the previous mufti had stuck to the previous opinion. He said, "It is permissible for a Hanafi to marry a Shafi'i, treating them as the status of the People of the Book." Every person with fiqh knows that this answer is double-edged, because he says it is permissible for a Hanafi to marry a Shafi'i, but it is not permissible for him to marry a Hanafi woman to a Shafi'i, treating them as the status of the People of the Book. It is permissible for a Muslim to take from the women of the People of the Book, but it is not permissible for him to marry his daughter to the People of the Book. This is the text in the books. This came about due to sectarian fanaticism or affiliation with a person or a group who affiliate with this person, as a natural result, that the people of the other group who affiliate with this madhhab, where the fatwa came in two contradictory forms, sometimes permissible and sometimes not permissible, meaning the Shafi'i madhhab, some of their followers did not stand with folded hands toward that sectarian fanaticism. They countered the fanaticism with another fanaticism, where some of them would pass by a mosque that was not on their madhhab, but on a madhhab contrary to their madhhab, and say, "Has not the time come for this church to close its doors?"