It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that two men from the people of Iraq came to him and asked him whether the bath (ghusl) of Friday is obligatory. Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: Whoever takes a bath, that is better and purer. And I will tell you how the bath began. In the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), the people were needy; they wore woollen clothing and watered the date palms carrying waterskins on their backs. The mosque was narrow and its roof was low. Once the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came out for Friday on an intensely hot summer day. His (peace and blessings be upon him) pulpit was small, consisting of only three steps. He (peace and blessings be upon him) addressed the people, and the people sweated in those woollen clothes, and the smell of sweat and wool began to rise from their bodies until they began to cause discomfort to one another. Then that smell reached the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) while he was on the pulpit, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O people! When it is this day, take a bath, and whoever of you has it should apply the best perfume or oil he has." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of Imam Bukhari, but the two Shaykhs did not record it.