It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Do not perform prayer after Asr, except when the sun is still high; during that time, you may pray.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him), he said: Indeed, you people perform a prayer, certainly we found the companionship of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and did not see him performing this prayer, rather the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade this prayer. By this, he meant the two rak‘ahs after ‘Asr.

Rabi’ah bin Darraj says: Sayyiduna Ali bin Abu Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) performed two rak’ahs after ‘Asr on the way to Makkah. When Sayyiduna ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) saw him, he became angry and said: Beware! By Allah, indeed you know that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had forbidden this prayer.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Zaid bin Khalid Juhani (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Caliph of the Messenger, Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), saw him performing two rak‘ahs after ‘Asr. So he went to him and struck him with a whip while he was in prayer. But when Sayyiduna Zaid (may Allah be pleased with him) finished, he said: O Commander of the Faithful! Since I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) performing these two rak‘ahs, after seeing the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) do so, I will not abandon this practice. Upon hearing this, Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) sat down beside him and said: O Zaid bin Khalid! If I did not fear that people would make this prayer a means to keep praying until night, I would not have struck you because of it.

Qabeesah bin Dhu’ayb says: Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) informed the family of Zubair that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had performed two rak’ahs with her after Asr, so the people of the family of Zubair used to perform these two rak’ahs. But Sayyiduna Zaid bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) said: May Allah forgive Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), we know the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) better than Sayyidah does. The reason for these two rak’ahs was that some Bedouins came and sat with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) at midday and began to ask questions, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) began to answer them, until he performed the Zuhr prayer, and then, without performing the two Sunnah after it, sat with them and continued answering their questions, until he performed the Asr prayer. Then, when he (peace and blessings be upon him) went home, he remembered that he had not performed the prayer after Zuhr, so he (peace and blessings be upon him) performed those two rak’ahs after Asr. May Allah forgive Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), we know the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) better than Sayyidah does. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade performing prayer after Asr.

Ata bin Saib says: I was sitting with Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mughaffal Muzani (ra) when two young men from the children of Sayyiduna Umar (ra) entered and performed two rak'ahs after Asr. He sent a message to them and, after calling them, said: "What prayer is this that you have performed? Your father used to forbid this." They replied: "Sayyida Aisha (ra) told us that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) performed two rak'ahs with her." Upon hearing this, Sayyiduna Ibn Mughaffal (ra) remained silent and did not give them any reply.

It is narrated from Sayyida Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), she says: Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) made a mistake, for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had prohibited performing prayer with emphasis at the time of sunrise and sunset.