Should religious texts be taken at their ظاهر (apparent meaning) or their مقصد (intended meaning), and how did the Prophet (PBUH) approve the Companion who delayed the Asr prayer based on his understanding of the hadith "No one should pray Asr except in..."?

The hadith referred to in the Two Sahihs pertains to the story of Banu Qurayza, where the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, commanded the Companions to pray there. The Companions exerted their utmost effort to understand the command. One group prayed Asr on the way, adhering to the intended meaning, which was to hasten. Another group delayed it until they reached Banu Qurayza, adhering to the literal wording. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, did not rebuke either group, which indicates the permissibility of taking the apparent meaning of a text or inferring meanings through ijtihad (independent reasoning) or qiyas (analogical reasoning). The hadith also indicates that every mujtahid (one who performs ijtihad) is correct, and that one who takes the apparent meaning of a text or infers a meaning from it is not to be blamed. The fundamental principle is to act upon the apparent meaning of a text unless there is proof that diverts it from that meaning.