Abu Salamah asked Umm al-Mu’minin Aisha Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) about the two rak’ahs which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to perform after ‘Asr. She said that he (peace and blessings be upon him) used to perform them before ‘Asr, then once he was occupied with something or forgot, so he performed them after ‘Asr, and then continued to perform them regularly. And it was the habit of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that whenever he performed a prayer, he would always perform it regularly. Isma’il bin Ja’far said that what she meant was that he (peace and blessings be upon him) persisted in it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) that Sayyiduna Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) came on the day of the Battle of Khandaq and began to speak ill of the disbelievers of Quraysh and said, "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)! By Allah, I was not able to perform the Asr prayer until the sun was about to set." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "By Allah, I too have not performed it." Then we went towards a stony ground, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) performed ablution and we all performed ablution, and he (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) performed the Asr prayer after sunset, and then after that he performed the Maghrib prayer.

Mukhtar bin Fulful says: I asked Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) about offering voluntary prayers after ‘Asr. He said that Sayyiduna ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) used to strike the hands of those who prayed after ‘Asr, and during the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), we used to offer two rak‘ahs after sunset before the Maghrib prayer. I asked him,“Did the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) also offer these two rak‘ahs?”He said: We used to see him praying them, but he neither commanded us to do so (i.e., as an obligation), nor did he forbid us from it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Salamah bin Akwa’ (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would always perform the Maghrib prayer at the time when the sun would set and disappear behind the veil.

`Umm al-Mu'minin Aisha Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) says that one night the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) delayed the 'Isha prayer until a large part of the night had passed and those who were in the mosque had fallen asleep. Then he (peace be upon him) came out, offered the prayer, and said: If I did not think that I would cause hardship for my ummah, this would be its (preferred) time.

`Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Do not let the Bedouins overpower you regarding the name of the Isha prayer, for in the Book of Allah it is called 'Isha.' They delay the milking of their camels, and that is why they call the Isha prayer 'Atamah.'"

Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to me: "What will you do when there will be such rulers over you who will delay the prayer till its last time, or he said: who will destroy the prayer from its proper time?" I said, "What do you command me to do?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Perform the prayer at its (proper) time, then if you pray with them as well, it will be a voluntary prayer for you."

‘Abdullah bin Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with them both) says: I asked the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him),“Which deed is the best?”(i.e., which has the greatest reward). He (peace and blessings be upon him) said,“To perform prayer at its proper time.”I said,“Then which?”He (peace and blessings be upon him) said,“To be good to parents”(i.e., to keep them happy and pleased, to do good to them, and to treat their friends well also). I said,“Then which?”He (peace and blessings be upon him) said,“To strive in the way of Allah.”Then, out of consideration for him (peace and blessings be upon him), I stopped asking further (so that it would not be burdensome for him).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: Whoever catches one rak'ah of a prayer has caught that prayer.

Sayyiduna Abu Qatadah (may Allah be pleased with him) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) addressed us and said: "Today, after the sun passes its zenith, and throughout the night, keep moving; if Allah wills, you will reach water by morning." So the people set out in such a way that no one paid attention to anyone else. Sayyiduna Abu Qatadah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) kept moving until half the night had passed, and I was at his side. He (peace and blessings be upon him) began to doze off and leaned over on his mount (i.e., overcome by sleep), and I came and supported him (so that he would not fall), without waking him, until he (peace and blessings be upon him) sat upright again. Then we continued until much of the night had passed, and again he (peace and blessings be upon him) leaned over, and I again supported him without waking him, until he (peace and blessings be upon him) sat upright again. Then we continued until the last part of the night, and then he (peace and blessings be upon him) leaned over much more than the previous two times, almost about to fall. Then I came and supported him. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) raised his head and said, "Who is this?" I replied, "Abu Qatadah." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "How long have you been walking with me like this?" I replied, "I have been walking with you like this since the night began." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "May Allah protect you as you have protected His Prophet." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Do you see that we are hidden from the people's sight?" Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Do you see anyone?" I said, "Here is a rider," then I said, "Here is another rider," until we gathered seven riders. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) moved aside from the path and laid his head on the ground (i.e., to sleep) and said, "You people, take care of our prayer (i.e., wake us at the time of prayer)." The first to wake up was the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) himself, and the sun was on his back. Then we all woke up in a panic, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Mount up!" So we mounted and continued until the sun had risen high. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) dismounted and asked for his ablution vessel, which was with me, and there was a little water in it. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) performed ablution with it (less than the usual ablution, i.e., with very little water and very quickly), and a little water remained in it. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Abu Qatadah (may Allah be pleased with him), "Put our vessel aside, for it will have a strange quality." Then Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) called the adhan for prayer, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed two rak‘ahs, then performed the obligatory morning prayer, and performed it as he did every day. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) and we mounted with him, and some of us whispered to others, "What will be the expiation for our shortcoming in the prayer today?" Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Am I not an example for you?" Then he said, "What fault is there in sleep? The fault is when a man does not pray until the time for the next prayer comes (i.e., he deliberately delays it until it is missed). So whoever does so (i.e., misses it and makes it up), it is obligatory that when he becomes aware, he should perform it. And when the next day comes, he should perform his prayer at its appointed time (i.e., just because it was missed once does not mean the time for prayer changes)." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "What do you think the people have done?" Then he said, "When the people woke up in the morning and did not find their Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), Abu Bakr and Umar (may Allah be pleased with them) said, 'The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is behind you; he would not leave you behind.' And other people said, 'The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is ahead of you.' If the people had listened to Abu Bakr and Umar (may Allah be pleased with them), they would have found the right path (this information was given by the Prophet as a miracle)." The narrator said: Then we reached the people when the day had advanced and everything had become hot, and the people began to say, "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)! We are dying and thirsty." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "No, you are not dead." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Bring our small bowl," and he asked for the vessel, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) began to pour water, and Sayyiduna Abu Qatadah (may Allah be pleased with him) began to give people water to drink. When the people saw that there was only one vessel full of water, they rushed towards it (i.e., each person feared that the water was little and he might miss out). Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Take it calmly and gently; you will all be satisfied." So the people began to take it calmly, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) kept pouring water, and I kept giving it to drink, until none remained except me and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). The narrator said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) poured again and said to me, "Drink!" I said, "I will not drink until the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) drinks." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "The one who serves the people drinks last." So I drank. The narrator said: Then the people happily and contentedly reached the water. The narrator said: Abdullah bin Rabah said: I used to narrate this hadith to people in the congregational mosque, when Sayyiduna Imran bin Husain (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "O young man, consider what you are saying, for I was one of the riders that night." He said: I said, "Then you must be well acquainted with this hadith." He said, "Which tribe are you from?" I said, "I am from the Ansar." He said, "Narrate, for you people know your hadiths well." Then I narrated the whole story to the people. Then Sayyiduna Imran (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "I was also present that night, but I do not know that anyone remembered it as well as you have."