I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, "The people had been routed away from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ until some of them reached a mountain on the outskirts of Madinah, then they returned to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Hanzala bin Abu Amir Thaqafi had engaged Abu Sufyan bin Harb in combat, and when Hanzala got the upper hand over him, Shaddad bin Aswad saw him and struck him down with his sword until he killed him, just as he was about to kill Abu Sufyan."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Your companion Hanzala is being washed by the angels, so ask his wife about it."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."
سمعت رسول الله ﷺ يقول: ولقد كان الناس انهزموا عن رسول الله ﷺ حتى انتهى بعضهم إلى دون الإعراض إلى جبل بناحية المدينة، ثم رجعوا إلى رسول الله ﷺ وقد كان حنظلة بن أبي عامر الثقفي هو وأبو سفيان بن حرب فلما استعلاه حنظلة رآه شداد بن الأسود فعلاه شداد بالسيف حتى قتله، وقد كاد يقتل أبا سفيان فقال رسول الله ﷺ: إن صاحبكم حنظلة تغسله الملائكة فاسألوا صاحبته فقالت: خرج وهو جنب لما سمع الهائعة. فقال رسول الله ﷺ: فذاك قد غسلته الملائكة.
Ibn Hibban (7025) and Hakim (3/204–205) both narrated it from the hadith of Ibn Ishaq, who said, "Yahya bin Abbad narrated to me," and he mentioned it.Its chain is hasan because of Ibn Ishaq, for his hadith is hasan when he states his source clearly.As for what is narrated from Ibn Abbas, who said, "Hamza bin Abdul-Muttalib and Hanzala the monk were struck down while both were in a state of janaba, so the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, 'I saw the angels washing them,'" this is daif.Tabarani narrated it in al-Kabir (11/391) from Muhammad bin Uthman bin Abu Shayba, "My uncle Qasim narrated to me," "Yaqub bin Ibrahim bin Saad narrated to us," "Sharik narrated to us, from Hajjaj, from Hakam, from Miqsam, from Ibn Abbas," and he mentioned it.It contains Sharik, who is bin Abdullah Nakhai, whose memory was poor, and Hakam did not hear from Miqsam except five hadiths, and this is not one of them.As for Haythami, he said in Majma(3/23), "Its chain is hasan."