Sayyiduna Abu Musa Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that I saw the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) performing two rak'ahs after 'Asr.

Hazrat Masruq says: The Truthful Daughter of the Truthful, the Beloved of the Beloved of Allah, the one exonerated from slander, Sayyida Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to perform two rak'ahs after Asr. I did not deny his statement.

Hisham said: My father informed me that Sayyida Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said to him: O my nephew! The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) never omitted two rak'ahs with me after Asr.

Aswad bin Yazid and Masruq both said: We bear witness over Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) that she said: Whenever the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was with me, he used to perform two rak'ahs of prayer after Asr.

Shurayh says: I asked Sayyida Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) about performing prayer after Asr. She said: Perform the prayer; the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) only forbade your people, the people of Yemen, from praying at the time when the sun is rising.

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), she says: There are two prayers which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) never abandoned, neither secretly nor openly, that is, two rak'ahs after Asr and two rak'ahs before Fajr.

Abu Bakr bin Abdur Rahman says: My father intended to perform Umrah. When the time came for his departure, he said to me: O my dear son! If we go to the Amir (Marwan bin Hakam) and bid him farewell (it would be good), I said: As you wish. Then we went to Marwan, and at that time some people were sitting with him, among them was Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Zubair (may Allah be pleased with him). They mentioned those two rak'ahs which Sayyiduna Ibn Zubair (may Allah be pleased with him) used to pray after Asr. Marwan said to him: O Ibn Zubair! From whom did you take these two rak'ahs? He said: Yes, Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) told me about them on the authority of Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her). Marwan sent a message to Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) asking about the reality of these two rak'ahs which Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Zubair (may Allah be pleased with him), through Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him), is attributing to you that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to perform them after Asr? She replied with this message that Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) had told her about it. Upon hearing this, Marwan sent a message to Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) asking about the reality of these two rak'ahs regarding which Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) thought that you had told her that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had prayed these two rak'ahs after Asr. She said: May Allah forgive Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), she has placed my report in its wrong context. Anyway, the matter is that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed the Zuhr prayer, and at that time some wealth was brought to him and he sat down to distribute it, until the muezzin came to him with the call for Asr. He (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed Asr and then came to me, because it was my turn that day. At that time, he prayed two light rak'ahs. We said: O Messenger of Allah! What are these two rak'ahs? Has any new command been given to you regarding them? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: No, the matter is that the two rak'ahs I used to pray after Zuhr, the distribution of wealth kept me busy from them, until the muezzin came to me with the call for Asr, so I disliked leaving them. Upon hearing this, Sayyiduna Ibn Zubair (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Allahu Akbar, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed these rak'ahs once, so by Allah, I will not leave them. But Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) said that she did not see the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) pray these two rak'ahs before or after this incident.

Ubaydullah bin Abdullah said that Sayyiduna Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) sent him to Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) to ask whether the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had ever performed any prayer after Asr. She said: It did not happen with me, but Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) had told me that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had performed two rak‘ahs after Asr, so you should send a message to her and ask her. So he sent a message to Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her), and she said: Yes, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to me after Asr and performed these two rak‘ahs. I said: O Messenger of Allah! Has any new command been revealed regarding these two rak‘ahs? He replied: No, the matter is that I became occupied after performing the Zuhr prayer, so now I am making them up after Asr.

Yazid bin Abi Ziyad says: I asked Abdullah bin Harith about the two rak‘ahs after ‘Asr. He said: I and Sayyiduna Abdullah bin ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) went to Sayyiduna Mu‘awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him). He said: Ibn ‘Abbas! You have mentioned the two rak‘ahs after ‘Asr, and I have received news that people are performing them, even though we did not see the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) perform this prayer, nor did he command anything of this sort. Sayyiduna Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: This is the matter about which Sayyiduna Ibn Zubair (may Allah be pleased with him) speaks to people, meaning he gives the fatwa to perform them. Then Sayyiduna Ibn Zubair (may Allah be pleased with him) arrived. Sayyiduna Mu‘awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) said to him: What is the reality of these two rak‘ahs about which you speak to people? He said: Lady ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated this hadith to me from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Upon hearing this, Sayyiduna Mu‘awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) sent two men to Lady ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) with this message: The Commander of the Faithful sends you greetings and asks about the reality of these two rak‘ahs about which Sayyiduna Ibn Zubair (may Allah be pleased with him) says that you commanded them to be performed after ‘Asr. Lady ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) replied: This is something that Lady Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) informed me about. So we went to Lady Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) and told her what Lady ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) had said. She responded: May Allah have mercy on ‘A’ishah! Did I not inform her that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade her from this?

It is narrated from the wife of the Messenger, Sayyida Umm Salama (may Allah be pleased with her), she says: I have not seen the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ever perform prayer after Asr, except on one occasion when people came to him after Zuhr and kept him occupied with some work, so he was unable to perform any prayer after Zuhr until he had performed the Asr prayer. Then, when he came to my house, he performed those two rak‘ahs.