When they intended to wash the body of the Prophet ﷺ, they said, "By Allah, we do not know whether to strip the Messenger of Allah ﷺ of his garments as we strip our dead, or to wash him with his garments still on him."When they disagreed, Allah cast sleep upon them until there was not a man among us whose chin was not resting on his chest. Then a speaker spoke to them from a corner of the house, and they did not know who he was, telling them to wash the Prophet ﷺ with his garments still on him.So they rose to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and washed him while his shirt was upon him, pouring water over the shirt and rubbing him through the shirt rather than with their bare hands.Ayesha used to say, "Had I known beforehand what I came to know later, none would have washed him but his wives."
لما أرادوا غسل النبي ﷺ قالوا: والله ما ندري انجرد رسول الله ﷺ من ثيابه كما تجرد موتانا، أم نغسله وعليه ثيابه؟ فلما اختلفوا ألقى الله عليهم النوم حتى ما منا رجل إلا وذقنه في صدره، ثم كلمهم مكلم من ناحية البيت لا يدرون من هو؟ أن اغسلوا النبي ﷺ وعليه ثيابه، فقاموا إلى رسول الله ﷺ فغسلوه، وعليه قميصه يصبون الماء فوق القميص، ويدلكونه بالقميص دون أيديهم، وكانت عائشة تقول: لو استقبلت من أمري ما استدبرت ما غسله إلا نساؤه.
It was narrated by Abu Dawud (3141) and Ibn Majah (1464), both from the hadith of Muhammad bin Ishaq, who said, Yahya bin Abbad told me, from his father Abbad bin Abdullah bin Zubayr, who said, I heard Ayesha, and he mentioned it. The wording given is that of Abu Dawud. As for Ibn Majah, he confined himself to Ayesha's statement, "If I had known at the outset of my affair...". Its chain is hasan because of Muhammad bin Ishaq, for he was a mudallis, though here he explicitly stated that he heard it directly. This hadith was also narrated by Imam Ahmad (26306), and Ibn Hibban (6627) graded it sahih, as did Hakim (3/59–60), all of them narrating it through this same route. Hakim said, "Sahih according to the criterion of Muslim."As for what was narrated from Burayda, who said, When they began to wash the Prophet ﷺ, a caller called out to them from inside, "Do not remove the Messenger of Allah's ﷺ shirt," this is daif. It was narrated by Ibn Majah (1466) through the route of Abu Muawiya, who said, Abu Burda told us, from Alqama bin Marthad, from Ibn Burayda, from his father, and he mentioned it. Hakim also transmitted it (1/362) through this same route and said, "Sahih according to the criterion of the two Shaykhs, though they did not include it," and Hakim then added, "This Abu Burda is Burayd bin Abu Burda bin Abu Musa Ashari, who is relied upon in the Sahihayn."I say, this is a mistake on his part, for this Abu Burda is actually Amr bin Yazid Tamimi Kufi, who is daif, the majority of the scholars having judged him daif.On this subject there is also a report from Ibn Abbas, narrated by Ahmad (2357) within a lengthy hadith, and in its chain is Husayn bin Abdullah, that is, Ibn Ubaydullah bin Abbas bin Abdul-Muttalib Hashimi Madani, who is daif.