The correct view is that the traditions prohibiting prayer are general: they apply to every prayer except what the Lawgiver has expressly exempted, and the exemption functions as a particularization of those reports. The hadith of Abū Hurayrah under discussion is one such specific text, and—as established in uṣūl—it overrides the general wording.

The hadith also implies that whoever catches less than one rakʿah has not caught the time of the prayer. This is the position of the majority, as stated in Nayl al-Awṭār; see the detailed discussion there (2/19–20).

4 – This ruling concerns only the person who deliberately postpones the prayer until that narrow time. A sleeper or someone who forgets, however, never misses the prayer: even if its entire time window elapses while he is unaware or forgetful, its time for him begins the moment he remembers.

The Prophet ﷺ said, on the journey during which they slept until sunrise:

“You were as though dead, and Allah returned your souls to you. Whoever sleeps through a prayer should perform it when he awakes, and whoever forgets a prayer should perform it when he remembers.”

Abū Yaʿlā and al-Ṭabarānī in al-Kabīr also transmitted it from Abū Juḥayfah; its transmitters are reliable, as noted in al-Muʿjam.

The hadith has many corroborating chains, among them the report of Abū Qatādah: They mentioned to the Prophet ﷺ that they had slept through the prayer, and he said, “There is no negligence in sleep; negligence is only in wakefulness. If any of you forgets a prayer or sleeps through it, let him perform it when he remembers.”