Sahih Ibn Khuzaymah

Abu Nadrah reports that a young man stood before Sayyiduna Imran bin Husain (may Allah be pleased with him), held the reins of his mount, and asked him about the prayer of fear (Salat al-Khawf). He turned towards us and said, "This young man has asked me a question; I wish to explain it to all of you. I participated in several expeditions with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and until we returned to Madinah, he would only perform two rak‘ahs (units of prayer)." In the narration of Ziyad bin Ayyub, there is this addition: "And I also performed Hajj with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and he only performed two rak‘ahs until he returned to Madinah." In the narrations of both Ahmad bin Abda and Ziyad bin Ayyub, it is mentioned that during the conquest of Makkah, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stayed in Makkah for eighteen nights, and he continued to perform only two rak‘ahs. Then he would say to the people of Makkah: "You should perform the full four rak‘ahs, for we are travelers." And I also participated in battle with Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and performed Hajj with him; he too would only perform two rak‘ahs until he returned. And I performed Hajj several times with Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him); he also performed only two rak‘ahs until he returned. And Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him), during the first seven years of his caliphate, would also perform only two rak‘ahs during Hajj until he returned to Madinah. Then, after those seven years, he began to perform the full four rak‘ahs. In Ahmad’s narration, there is this addition: Then he asked, "Have I explained the matter to you?" We replied, "Yes." The wording of this narration is from Ahmad bin Abda’s narration.