Methodology
Prayer times are defined by the position of the sun. We calculate them for the exact coordinates of each place, for every day, and convert them to local clock time with the official time zone rules, including daylight saving time.
How each prayer time is defined
- Fajr begins at true dawn, when the sun is a set number of degrees below the eastern horizon (between 12° and 20°, depending on the method).
- Sunrise is when the upper edge of the sun appears: its centre is then 0.833° below the horizon, allowing for atmospheric refraction and the sun’s radius. The time for Fajr ends at sunrise.
- Dhuhr begins after the sun passes its highest point (solar noon, zawal).
- Asr begins when the shadow of an object equals its length plus the length of its shadow at noon (Shafi‘i, Maliki, Hanbali), or twice its length plus the noon shadow (Hanafi).
- Maghrib begins at sunset. A few methods add a few minutes or use a small angle below the horizon (4–4.5°).
- Isha begins when twilight has disappeared: the sun is a set angle below the horizon, or a fixed interval after Maghrib in the Umm al-Qura, Gulf, Qatar and Islamic Community of Lisbon methods.
Calculation methods
The methods differ mainly in the twilight angles for Fajr and Isha. By default each country uses the method listed below; everywhere else we use the Muslim World League method.
| Method | Parameters | Default in |
|---|---|---|
| Muslim World League | Fajr 18°, Isha 17° | Europe, Africa and all other countries |
| Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) | Fajr 15°, Isha 15° | United States, Canada |
| Egyptian General Authority of Survey | Fajr 19.5°, Isha 17.5° | Egypt, Sudan, South Sudan, Libya, Syria, Palestine |
| Umm al-Qura University, Makkah | Fajr 18.5°, Isha 90 min after Maghrib (120 min in Ramadan) | Saudi Arabia, Yemen |
| University of Islamic Sciences, Karachi | Fajr 18°, Isha 18° | Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka |
| Institute of Geophysics, University of Tehran | Fajr 17.7°, Maghrib 4.5°, Isha 14° | Iran |
| Shia Ithna Ashari (Leva Institute, Qum) | Fajr 16°, Maghrib 4°, Isha 14° | — |
| Gulf Region | Fajr 19.5°, Isha 90 min after Maghrib | Bahrain, Oman |
| Kuwait | Fajr 18°, Isha 17.5° | Kuwait |
| Qatar | Fajr 18°, Isha 90 min after Maghrib | Qatar |
| United Arab Emirates (Dubai) | Fajr 18.2°, Isha 18.2°; offsets: Sunrise −3 min, Dhuhr +3 min, Asr +3 min, Maghrib +3 min | United Arab Emirates |
| Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS) | Fajr 20°, Isha 18° | Singapore, Brunei |
| JAKIM (Malaysia) | Fajr 20°, Isha 18° | Malaysia |
| Kemenag (Indonesia) | Fajr 20°, Isha 18° | Indonesia |
| Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı (Turkey) | Fajr 18°, Isha 17°; offsets: Sunrise −7 min, Dhuhr +5 min, Asr +4 min, Maghrib +7 min | Turkey |
| Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia | Fajr 16°, Isha 15° | Russia |
| Musulmans de France (UOIF) | Fajr 12°, Isha 12° | — |
| Tunisia | Fajr 18°, Isha 18° | Tunisia |
| Algeria | Fajr 18°, Isha 17° | Algeria |
| Morocco | Fajr 19°, Isha 17° | Morocco |
| Jordan (Ministry of Awqaf) | Fajr 18°, Maghrib 5 min after sunset, Isha 18° | Jordan |
| Islamic Community of Lisbon | Fajr 18°, Maghrib 3 min after sunset, Isha 77 min after Maghrib | Portugal |
Asr: standard and Hanafi
The Hanafi Asr begins later, typically 30 to 80 minutes after the standard Asr, depending on latitude and season. We use the Hanafi rule by default in Russia (except Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia), Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India (except Kerala) and Bangladesh, where most Muslims follow the Hanafi school. Every city page shows both Asr times.
High latitudes
Beyond about 48° latitude, north or south, in summer – the exact limit depends on the angle – the sun does not sink far enough below the horizon for the usual Fajr and Isha angles, and twilight lasts all night. On those days we estimate Fajr and Isha with one of three widely used rules:
- Angle-based (default): the night between sunset and sunrise is divided in proportion to the angle – with an 18° angle, Fajr is at most 18/60 of the night before sunrise.
- One-seventh of the night: Fajr is at the beginning of the last seventh of the night, Isha at the end of the first seventh.
- Middle of the night: Isha is never later, and Fajr never earlier, than the middle of the night.
Where the sun does not rise or set at all (polar night and midnight sun), times follow the nearest latitude where the day and night can be told apart (65°). City pages list the exact dates affected.
Precision
We compute the position of the sun with the formulas of the U.S. Naval Observatory, accurate to about one minute of arc, refine each time iteratively and round to the nearest minute. Elevation is not taken into account, in line with most official timetables. Mosques often add one or two minutes of precaution, especially to Dhuhr and Maghrib.
Hijri calendar
Hijri dates follow the Umm al-Qura calendar of Saudi Arabia. In many countries a new month begins after the crescent is sighted locally, so dates – including the start of Ramadan and the Eids – can differ by a day. Always confirm the dates announced in your community.
Qibla
The Qibla is the initial direction of the shortest path over the Earth’s surface (the great circle) from your location to the Kaaba (21.4225° N, 39.8262° E), measured clockwise from true north.
Data sources
- Places, coordinates, time zones and populations: GeoNames, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Mosques: © OpenStreetMap contributors (Open Database License); Overture Maps Foundation places (CDLA Permissive 2.0); Wikidata (CC0); GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). When several sources describe the same mosque, we show it once – preferring OpenStreetMap, then Wikidata, Overture and GeoNames – and fill in missing details such as the address or the English name from the other sources.
- Approximate location from the IP address: IP Geolocation by DB-IP, CC BY 4.0.
- Time zone rules: the IANA time zone database.