I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, "Whoever washes on Friday and performs the ritual bath, sets out early and arrives early, walks rather than rides, draws near to the imam and listens attentively without engaging in idle talk, will have for every step the reward of a year's worth of deeds, the reward of its fasting and its night prayer."In another narration, "Whoever washes his head on Friday and performs the ritual bath."
سمعت رسول الله ﷺ يقول: من غسل يوم الجمعة واغتسل، وبكر وابتكر، ومشى ولم يركب، ودنا من الإمام فاستمع ولم يلغ، كان له بكل خطوة عمل سنة، أجر صيامها وقيامها. وفي رواية: من غسل رأسه يوم الجمعة واغتسل.
This was narrated by Abu Dawud (345), Tirmidhi (496), Nasai (1381), and Ibn Majah (1087), all of them through the route of Abu Ashath Sanani, from Aws bin Aws Thaqafi, and he mentioned it. Its isnad is sahih, and it was graded sahih by Ibn Khuzayma (1767), Ibn Hibban (2781), and Hakim (1/281-282), all of them through the route of Abu Ashath Sanani.The second narration was reported by Abu Dawud (346) through the route of Saeed bin Abu Hilal, from Ubada bin Nusai, from Aws Thaqafi, and he mentioned it. Its isnad is sahih, even though Ibn Hajar said of Saeed bin Abu Hilal that he was "truthful (saduq)." Nevertheless he is trustworthy on the more probable view, for the majority of the scholars affirmed his reliability, and both Bukhari and Muslim included his narrations in their two Sahihs, as did the rest of the compilers of the Sunan.Hakim said, after presenting the chains of this hadith, "This hadith has been established as sahih through these chains according to the criterion of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), though they did not include it. I think this is due to a weak hadith, but chains like these should not be faulted on account of something like that." Then he mentioned what was narrated from Abdullah bin Amr bin As, from the Prophet ﷺ, who said, "Whoever washes and bathes, comes early, and draws near, and listens attentively, will have for every step he takes the reward of standing in prayer for a year and fasting it."This is a daif hadith. Its isnad contains Uthman Shami, from whom no one narrated except Thawr bin Yazid, and no affirmation of his reliability has been transmitted from anyone. It was narrated by Ahmad (6954), from Rawh, who said, Thawr bin Yazid told us, from Uthman Shami, that he heard Abu Ashath Sanani, from Aws bin Aws, from Abdullah bin Amr, and he mentioned it.Hakim said, "Uthman Shami is unknown." Bayhaqi said in Sunan al-Kubra (3/227), "The error in the isnad and the text of this hadith comes from this Uthman Shami, and the sahih version is the narration of the group, from Ashath, from Aws, from the Prophet ﷺ. And Allah knows best."Excluded from this ruling are the three masjids to which travel is recommended because of their special merit. As for masjids other than these three, it is better for the Muslim to pray in the masjid nearest to his house, without needing to ride, and he should not deliberately ride to a more distant masjid.