The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Islam began as something strange and will return to being strange as it began, so blessed are the strangers."
حدثنا أبو كريب حدثنا حفص بن غياث عن الأعمش عن أبي إسحق عن أبي الأحوص
قال رسول الله ﷺ إن الإسلام بدأ غريبا وسيعود غريبا كما بدأ فطوبى للغرباء
[Sahih]. Ibn Majah also narrated it, in the Book of Tribulations, chapter "Islam began as something strange," no. 3988, from the hadith of Hafs bin Ghiyath, with the same wording, and Abu Khalid Sulayman bin Hayan followed him in narrating it. Baghawi graded it sahih in Sharh al-Sunnah, 1/118. This hadith has many corroborating narrations in Muslim, no. 232/145, and elsewhere.On this subject there are also narrations from Saad [Ahmad 1/184], Ibn Umar [Muslim, no. 146], Jabir [Tahawi in Mushkil Athar 1/398, and Bayhaqi in Zuhd Kabir, no. 198], Anas [Ibn Majah, no. 3987], and Abdullah bin Amr [Ahmad 2/122, 177].