Among the evidence that the prayer should be performed early on an overcast day is the report narrated from Buraidah al-Aslami who said: “We were with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on a campaign when he said, ‘Perform the prayer early on a cloudy day, for whoever misses the ʿAsr prayer—his deeds are rendered worthless.’” It was recorded by Aḥmad and Ibn Mājah.

I say: The only portion of this narration that is soundly traced back to the Prophet is the phrase, “Whoever misses the ʿAsr prayer…,” and this is precisely how al-Bukhārī and others transmitted it. The rest of the wording is actually Buraidah’s own statement, halted at him; one of the narrators erred by attributing it to the Prophet. The preserved version is the first one, as al-Ḥāfiẓ noted in al-Tahdhīb. I have clarified this in al-Taʿlīq al-Raghīb 1/169 and again in Irwāʾ al-Ghalīl, no. 255, now in print.