حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ الدِّمَشْقِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا الْوَلِيدُ بْنُ مُسْلِمٍ، حَدَّثَنَا الأَوْزَاعِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو النَّجَاشِيِّ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ رَافِعَ بْنَ خَدِيجٍ، يَقُولُ كُنَّا نُصَلِّي الْمَغْرِبَ عَلَى عَهْدِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ فَيَنْصَرِفُ أَحَدُنَا وَإِنَّهُ لَيَنْظُرُ إِلَى مَوَاقِعِ نَبْلِهِ . حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو يَحْيَى الزَّعْفَرَانِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ بْنُ مُوسَى، نَحْوَهُ .
"I heard Rafi' bin Khadij say: 'We used to perform the Maghrib at the time of the Messenger of Allah, and one of us would be able to see the places where his arrows would land when shot from his bow.'" (Sahih)Another chain with similar wording.
"The Messenger of Allah said: 'My Ummah will continue to adhere to the Fitrah so long as they do not delay the Maghrib until the stars have come out." (Hasan)Abu 'Abdullah bin Majah said: I heard Muhammed bin Yahya saying: 'The people in Baghdad were confused in narrating this Hadith. Abu Bakr Al-A'yan and I went to 'Awwam bin 'Abbad bin 'Awwam and he brought out to us the book of his father, and this Hadith was in it.'"
"The Messenger of Allah said: 'Were it not that it would be too difficult for my Ummah, I would have delayed the 'Isha' prayer until one third or one half of the night had passed.'"
"Anas bin Malik was asked: 'Did the Prophet wear a ring?' He said: 'Yes.' One night he delayed the 'Isha' prayer until almost the middle of the night. When he had prayed, he turned to face us and said: 'The people have prayed and gone to sleep, but you will still be in a state of prayer so long as you are waiting for the (next) prayer.'" (Sahih)Anas said: "It was as if I can see the sparkle from his ring.'"
"The Messenger of Allah led us for the Maghrib prayer. Then he did not come out until half the night had passed. Then he came out and led them in prayer, then he said: "The people have prayed and gone to sleep, but you are still in a state of prayer so long as you are waiting for the (next) prayer. Were it not for the weak and the sick, I wanted to delay this prayer until the middle of the night.'"
"We were with the Messenger of Allah on a campaign, and he said: 'Hasten to perform prayer on a cloudy day, for whoever misses the 'Asr prayer, all his good deeds will be in vain.'"