sunset, and ʿAlī is not superior to the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. If he and his Companions prayed it after sunset, then ʿAlī and his companions have all the more reason to do likewise.
If prayer after sunset does not fulfill the obligation, or is deficient and requires the sun to be brought back, then the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—would have been more entitled to have the sun brought back. But if the prayer is complete and fulfills the obligation, there is no need to bring it back.
Moreover, an event of this kind is something momentous and extraordinary, which people would have every incentive and reason to report. If only one or two people report it, it is evident that they are lying about it.
The splitting of the moon occurred at night, when people were asleep. Nevertheless, the Companions related it through multiple channels, and it was recorded in collections of authentic hadith, Sunan collections, and Musnad collections (1), through multiple channels (2). The Quran also spoke of it. How, then, could the sun be brought back during the day without this becoming widely known or being transmitted by scholars as an event of this kind should be?!
(1) م: “In the Sahīh collection and the Sunan and Musnad collections.”
(2) Numerous hadiths reporting the splitting of the moon have been transmitted from several Companions. These include those in al-Bukhārī, 4:206–207 (Book of Virtues, chapter on the polytheists’ request that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—show them a sign, whereupon he showed them the splitting of the moon). This chapter contains reports from 'Abd Allāh ibn Mas'ūd, Anas ibn Mālik, and Ibn 'Abbās—may Allah be pleased with them. These hadiths are repeated in al-Bukhārī, 5:49 (Book of the Virtues of the Ansār, chapter on the splitting of the moon).
The wording of Anas’s hadith is: “The people of Mecca asked the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—to show them a sign. He showed them the moon in two parts, so that they saw Hirā between them.” The hadith of 'Abd Allāh ibn Mas'ūd reads: “The moon split while we were with the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—at Minā. He said, ‘Bear witness!’ One part moved towards the mountain.” The hadith of Ibn 'Abbās reads: “The moon split during the time of the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace.”
Hadiths concerning the splitting of the moon also appear in al-Bukhārī, 6:142–143 (Book of Quranic Commentary, surah ‘The Hour Has Drawn Near’); Muslim, 4:2158–2159 (Book of the Characteristics of the Hypocrites and the Rulings Concerning Them, chapter on the splitting of the moon); and Sunan al-Tirmidhī, 5:71–73 (Book of Quranic Commentary, Sūrat al-Qamar [The Moon]). This chapter also contains reports from Ibn 'Umar, Jubayr ibn Mut'im, and Abū Hurayra—may Allah be pleased with them. See also al-Musnad (al-Ma'ārif edition), 5:204, 6:12, 135; (al-Halabī edition), 3:165, 220, 275, 4:81–82.