Hanzala bin Abu Amir al-Ghasil and Abu Sufyan bin Harb met in combat. When Hanzala gained the upper hand over Abu Sufyan, Shaddad bin Aswad, also known as Ibn Shauub, saw him and struck him down with his sword until he killed him. Hanzala had nearly killed Abu Sufyan.The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Your companion Hanzala is being washed by the angels, so ask his wife about him."They asked her, and she said, "He went out in a state of major ritual impurity when he heard the call to arms."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "That is why the angels washed him."
كان حنظلة بن أبي عامر الغسيل التقى هو وأبو سفيان بن حرب فلما استعلى حنظلة رآه شداد بن الأسود. وكان يقال له: ابن شعوب فعلاه شداد بالسيف حتى قتله. وقد كاد يقتل أبا سفيان. فقال رسول الله ﷺ: إن صاحبكم حنظلة لتغسله الملائكة فسلوا صاحبته فقالت: خرج وهو جنب لما سمع الهائعة. فقال رسول الله ﷺ: لذلك غسلته الملائكة.
Muhammad bin Ishaq narrated it. He said, "Yahya bin Abbad bin Abdullah (Ibn Zubayr bin Awwam) told me, from his father, from his grandfather," who then related it.This route was narrated by Ibn Hibban (7025), Abu Naeem in Marifat Sahaba (2/853), and Hakim (3/204-205), who said, "Sahih according to the criteria of Muslim." Its chain of transmission is hasan because of Muhammad bin Ishaq.Hanzala is the son of Abu Amir the monk, the Awsi. In the pre-Islamic era, his father was known as "the monk," and he used to speak of the Bath and the religion of pure monotheism. But when the Prophet ﷺ was sent, he opposed him out of stubbornness and envy, left Madinah, and fought alongside Quraysh in the Battle of Uhud. He then returned with Quraysh to Makkah, and afterward went out to the land of the Romans, where he died. His son Hanzala embraced Islam, and his Islam was excellent, and he was martyred at Uhud.Ibn Shahin narrated with a hasan chain of transmission to Hisham bin Urwa, from his father, who said, "Hanzala bin Abu Amir and Abdullah bin Abu Salul asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for permission to kill their fathers, but he forbade them from doing so." See Isabah.As for what was narrated from Ibn Abbas, who said, "When Hamza bin Abdul-Muttalib and Hanzala bin the monk were struck down while both were in a state of ritual impurity, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, 'I saw the angels washing them.'"Tabarani narrated it in Kabir (12094) from Muhammad bin Uthman bin Abu Shayba, who said, "My uncle Qasim told me, Yaqub bin Ibrahim bin Saad told us, Sharik told us, from Hajjaj, from Hakam, from Miqsam, from Ibn Abbas," who related it.It contains men I did not identify, and Sharik has poor retention, and he added in the text the words "Hamza bin Abdul-Muttalib," although Haythami graded it hasan in Majma al-Zawaid (3/23).