Evidence establishing this has indeed been reported. Ibn Abbās said in this hadith, “Along with Umar ibn al-Khattāb, I used to strike people for doing it.” That is, he used to prohibit people categorically from praying after Asr. Apparently, Aisha heard of this and said, “Umar was mistaken. The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—only forbade deliberately timing prayer to coincide with sunrise or sunset.” In another narration from her, she said, “The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—never ceased to perform the two rak‘ahs after Asr.” He continued: Aisha said that the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—said, “Do not deliberately time your prayer to coincide with sunrise or sunset and then pray at that time.” Narrated by Muslim. (1)
This indicates that prayer is prohibited at sunset. It also implies that prayer after Asr, while the sun is still bright and clear, does not fall under this prohibition. This implied meaning is explicitly stated in a hadith narrated from Alī ibn Abī Tālib and traced back to the Prophet: “He forbade prayer after Asr unless the sun was still high.” It was recorded by Abū Dāwūd and al-Nasā’ī. According to a narration recorded by Ahmad: “Do not pray after Asr unless you pray while the sun is still high.” (2)
(3-2-2) The Regular Sunnah Prayer of Asr:
The following matters relate to this regular Sunnah prayer: