Friday is an important day, and it is the best day of the week, on which the Muslims gather for prayer. The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) urged the people to purify themselves, clean themselves and make themselves look good on this day, especially those who wanted to attend Jumu‘ah prayer. In this hadith, ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates that the people used to come to attend Jumu‘ah prayer from their houses and from al-‘Awali, which refers to some areas near Madinah, to pray with the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) in his mosque. “they would come in the dust [fi’l-ghubar]” – in a report narrated by Muslim, it says: “they would come in ‘abayas [fi’l-‘aba’]”. The dust of the road would get onto them, and they would sweat; such things cause a person’s clothes to become dirty, and result in an unpleasant smell, which is not appropriate for the Muslim himself, let alone when he is attending prayers in congregation and Jumu‘ah prayer in the mosque. Then ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates that a man came to the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). What appears to be the case is that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) noticed a smell when this man came near him. When the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) saw what state the man was in, he said: “I wish you would purify yourselves for this day of yours!” According to a report narrated in al-Sahihayn he said:, “I wish that you would do ghusl” – meaning: for when you come to pray on Friday. This was so as not to cause annoyance to people with the smell of sweat. What is meant by purifying oneself is to wash oneself, making the water reach all of the body and head, seeking to purify and clean oneself. This hadith indicates that we are urged to be clean and to avoid unpleasant smells on the body, especially on Friday..