It is narrated from Sayyiduna al-Bara' bin Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) that this verse was revealed: "Guard the prayers, especially the Asr prayer." For as long as Allah willed, we recited it in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Then Allah abrogated it and revealed this: "Guard the prayers, especially the middle prayer." [Surah al-Baqarah: 238] A man asked al-Bara' bin Azib (may Allah be pleased with him): Is it the Asr prayer? He said: I have told you how it was revealed and how Allah abrogated it. And Allah knows best.
In Sahih Muslim this same report is transmitted from Fudayl, but in it the man said: Then it must be the Asr prayer. Al-Bara' bin Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Did I not tell you how it was revealed and how Allah abrogated it?
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الصلاة / 2158
It is narrated from Sayyiduna al-Bara' bin Azib (may Allah be pleased with him): For a period we recited it with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) like this: "Guard the prayers, and especially the Asr prayer." Then, after it was abrogated, we recited it like this: "Guard the prayers, especially the middle prayer." [Surah al-Baqarah: 238] I do not know whether it is that same prayer or another one.
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الصلاة / 2159
Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) said: We were with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) on the day of the Trench (Khandaq), and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "May Allah Almighty fill with fire the houses and the graves of (those polytheists) who did not let us offer the middle prayer until the sun set; it was the Asr prayer."
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الصلاة / 2160
It is narrated from Shutayr bin Shakal al-Absi: I heard Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) say: On the day of the Battle of the Confederates (al-Ahzab), we offered the Asr prayer between Maghrib and Isha, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "These polytheists kept us busy from the middle prayer, that is, the Asr prayer. May Allah fill their graves and their bellies with fire."
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الصلاة / 2161
It is narrated from Zirr bin Hubaysh (may Allah have mercy on him) that a man was told: Ask Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) about the middle prayer. He asked him about it, and he (may Allah be pleased with him) said: We used to think it was the Fajr prayer, until I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say on the day of the Battle of the Confederates (al-Ahzab): "These polytheists distracted us from the middle prayer, that is, the Asr prayer, until even the sun set. May Allah fill their graves and their bellies with fire."
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الصلاة / 2162
Hadith Gradingمحدثین:صحيح
Hadith Takhrij«صحيح۔ مضٰي في الذي قبله وهو حديث صحيح من و غيروجه»
It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him): I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say on the day of the Battle of the Trench (Khandaq): "These polytheists distracted us from the middle prayer, that is, Asr. May Allah Almighty fill their bellies and their graves with fire."
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الصلاة / 2163
It is narrated from Sayyiduna Samurah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The middle prayer means the Asr prayer."
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الصلاة / 2164
Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The middle prayer is the Asr prayer."
It was narrated like this with this chain; others differed from him and narrated it from al-Taymi as mawquf (stopping) at Abu Hurayrah.
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الصلاة / 2165
(a) Yahya bin Sa'id (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated this same hadith from al-Taymi (may Allah have mercy on him) as mawquf (stopping at the Companion). Abdullah (bin Ahmad) said: My father said: He (this Abu Salih) is not Abu Salih al-Samman, nor Badham; this one is a Basran, and I think he is Mizan, meaning his name is Mizan. The Shaykh (al-Bayhaqi) said: This is the view of Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) in the sounder of the two narrations from him, and the view of Ubayy bin Ka'b, Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, Abu Hurayrah and Abdullah bin Amr bin al-As, and one of the two narrations from Ibn Umar, Ibn Abbas, Abu Sa'id al-Khudri and Aishah (may Allah be pleased with them).
(b) It is transmitted from Qabisah bin Dhu'ayb, a Successor (may Allah have mercy on him), that the middle prayer is the Maghrib prayer.
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الصلاة / 2167