97 – ʿĀʾishah ﵂ said: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to perform ghusl on four occasions: after janābah (major ritual impurity), on Fridays, after cupping, and after washing a deceased person.” Abū Dāwūd related it, and Ibn Khuzaymah authenticated it ⦗1⦘.

Status of the hadith:
The hadith is weak; nevertheless, some scholars deemed it sound. Al-Ḥākim recorded it (1/267) and said that it satisfies the conditions set by al-Bukhārī and Muslim, a judgment with which al-Dhahabī concurred. Ibn ʿAbd al-Hādī reports in al-Muḥarrar that Imām al-Bukhārī remarked, “All the transmitters of this hadith are trustworthy,” yet Muslim omitted it from his Ṣaḥīḥ, and—I believe—he did so only because certain hadith critics had faulted it. By contrast, al-Mundhirī, in Tahdhīb Sunan Abī Dāwūd, cites al-Bukhārī as saying that ʿĀʾishah’s report on this topic “is not of that calibre,” and he quotes Abū Dāwūd who judged the hadith weak and abrogated.

Its weakness lies in the presence of Muṣʿab ibn Shaybah in the chain. Ibn Ḥajar states in Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb that Aḥmad said, “He narrates objectionable reports.” Abū Ḥātim commented, “He is not commended; he is weak.” Al-Nasāʾī assessed him as “narrating objectionable hadiths.” Al-Dāraquṭnī said, “He is neither strong nor precise,” and Ibn ʿAdī noted criticism of his memory. Both Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn and al-ʿAjlī considered him trustworthy, but a detailed negative appraisal takes precedence over a general endorsement.

Accordingly, although Ibn Khuzaymah declared our hadith authentic, it was graded weak by al-Bukhārī, al-Shāfiʿī, Abū Dāwūd, Ibn al-Munḏir, and al-Khaṭṭābī.

Bathing after janābah, on Fridays, and after washing a deceased person is, however, established through other authentic reports.