The obligatory acts of ghusl

Sayyiduna Imran bin Husayn (may Allah be pleased with him) says: We were with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) on a journey, (and he mentioned the hadith). The call to prayer was given and he (peace and blessings be upon him) led the people in prayer. When he turned away from the prayer, he saw a man sitting apart who had not prayed with the people. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O so-and-so! What prevented you from praying with the people?" He said: O Messenger of Allah! I became junub (in a state of major impurity) and there was no water. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "You should have used clean earth, for it suffices." And then he narrated the long hadith, (in which) he says: He (peace and blessings be upon him) gave him a vessel of water and said: "Go and pour it over yourself."

Abu Qilabah narrates from a man of the tribe of Banu Amir, who said: I saw Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him), and he narrated the hadith about janabah, in which it is mentioned that he became junub (in a state of major impurity) and (he had) no water. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Abu Dharr! Clean earth is sufficient for you, even if you do not find water for ten years; and when you find water, let it touch your skin (that is, take a ritual bath)."

(a) Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The prayers were fifty, the ritual bath (ghusl) for janabah was seven times, and washing urine from a garment was seven times. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) kept asking, until the prayers were fixed at five, the ritual bath for janabah at once, and washing urine from a garment at once.
(b) It is reported from Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Under every hair there is janabah, so wet the hair and cleanse the skin."
This is not established.

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Under every hair there is janabah, so wet the hair and cleanse the skin thoroughly."
(b) Al-Harith bin Wajih alone narrated it in this way, and Yahya bin Ma'in (may Allah have mercy on him) said about al-Harith bin Wajih: His hadith is worth nothing.
(c) Among the scholars of hadith, Imam al-Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him), Imam Abu Dawud (may Allah have mercy on him) and others have rejected it. Al-Hasan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates it from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as a mursal report, and likewise Imam al-Hasan al-Basri narrates it from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) as a mawquf report, and something similar is transmitted from Imam al-Nakha'i (may Allah have mercy on him).
(d) Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) interpreted it as referring to what is outward; the inside of the nose and mouth are among the hidden parts, so they resemble the inside of the eyes and the inside of the ears. The one who debated this issue with Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Analogy requires that he does not repeat (the bath), but we have taken the report from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both).

Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: He does not repeat (it) unless he was junub (in a state of major impurity), meaning rinsing the mouth and sniffing water into the nose.
(b) Ali bin Umar said: Aishah bint Ajrad has no hadith other than this one.
(c) Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Their report is the one whose chain is Uthman bin Rashid from Aishah bint Ajrad from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both). He claims that this report is established and that analogy is to be abandoned on account of it, while he faults us for taking the hadith of Busrah bint Safwan (may Allah be pleased with her).
(d) Uthman and Aishah are unknown, even in their own town. How can it be permissible for anyone to affirm what is weak and unknown, and weaken what is strong and well known? The Shaykh said: This hadith was narrated by al-Hajjaj bin Artah from Aishah bint Ajrad, and al-Hajjaj bin Artah is not a proof.