Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Sa’ib (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) used to perform four rak‘ahs before Zuhr but after the sun had passed its zenith, and he used to say: At this time, the gates of the heavens are opened, and I like that a righteous deed of mine be raised up in it.

Sayyiduna Abu Ayyub Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to always perform four rak‘ahs after the sun had declined. One day I asked: O Messenger of Allah! What are these rak‘ahs that you perform regularly? He (peace and blessings be upon him) replied: At the time of the sun’s decline, the gates of the heavens are opened, and they are not closed until the Zuhr prayer is performed, so I like that a righteous deed of mine is raised up during this time. I asked: O Messenger of Allah! Do you recite (Qur’an) in all these rak‘ahs? He replied: Yes. I asked: Is there a separating salam in them? He (peace and blessings be upon him) replied: No.

(Second chain) Sayyiduna Abu Ayyub (may Allah be pleased with him) used to regularly perform four rak‘ahs before Zuhr. Someone said to him:“You perform this prayer very regularly?”He replied:“I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) doing this, so I asked him about it, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘This is a time when the gates of the heavens are opened, and I like that my righteous deed is raised up at that time.’”

Sayyiduna Bara’ bin ‘Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I accompanied the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) on eighteen journeys; I never saw him abandon the two rak‘ahs before Zuhr.

Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would not leave four rak'ahs before Zuhr and two rak'ahs before Fajr in any condition.