How prayer times are calculated
Last updated: 2026-11-10
Prayer times follow the position of the sun. Fajr and Isha depend on how far the sun is below the horizon (an "angle" that differs between authorities), Dhuhr is solar noon, Asr depends on shadow length, and Maghrib is sunset. Each country gets the method its authority or most mosques use, and every city page names the method it uses.
Many authorities publish tables that differ by a few minutes from the textbook formula, because they lower the horizon for altitude, round up, or add safety minutes. We only call a country "compared" when its numbers were checked against the authority's own table, day by day. The status below is the honest state of that checking.
Method and verification status by country
| Country | Default method | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Oman | Oman - Ministry of Awqaf | A · Compared with the official table: within 1 minute — Ministry of Awqaf table; Muscat embedded |
| United Arab Emirates | UAE - General Authority of Islamic Affairs, Endowments and Zakat | A · Compared with the official table: within 1 minute — Abu Dhabi checked day by day; other emirates on one date only (status B) |
| Morocco | Morocco - Ministry of Habous and Islamic Affairs | A · Compared with the official table: within 1 minute — Checked for October-November 2026 only |
| Egypt | Egyptian General Authority of Survey | B · Consistent with reported official values, not checked against the table |
| Saudi Arabia | Umm al-Qura, Makkah | C · Authority's published parameters, no table compared — Ramadan Isha interval still to be checked |
| Qatar | Qatar | C · Authority's published parameters, no table compared |
| Kuwait | Kuwait | C · Authority's published parameters, no table compared |
| Turkey | Diyanet (Turkey) | C · Authority's published parameters, no table compared |
| United Kingdom | Moonsighting Committee | C · Authority's published parameters, no table compared |
| United States | ISNA (North America) | C · Authority's published parameters, no table compared — No national authority; mosques choose (ISNA is the usual choice) |
| Canada | ISNA (North America) | C · Authority's published parameters, no table compared |
| Pakistan | University of Islamic Sciences, Karachi | C · Authority's published parameters, no table compared — Asr: Hanafi by default |
| India | University of Islamic Sciences, Karachi | C · Authority's published parameters, no table compared — Asr: Hanafi by default |
| Bangladesh | University of Islamic Sciences, Karachi | C · Authority's published parameters, no table compared — Asr: Hanafi by default |
| Indonesia | Singapore (MUIS) | C · Authority's published parameters, no table compared — Muhammadiyah uses a different Fajr angle |
| Malaysia | Singapore (MUIS) | C · Authority's published parameters, no table compared — Shares the Indonesian setting; JAKIM not compared |
| Singapore | Singapore (MUIS) | C · Authority's published parameters, no table compared |
| Jordan | Muslim World League | D · General fallback method: treat as approximate — Known to differ from the Ministry (see the banner on its pages) |
Every other country uses the Muslim World League method (Fajr 18°, Isha 17°) unless a country above says otherwise. That is a fallback, not a verified value: expect differences of several minutes at sunrise and Maghrib, and check with your local mosque.
Asr: two schools
The standard (Shafi'i, Maliki, Hanbali) Asr begins when an object's shadow equals its height; the Hanafi Asr when it equals twice its height, which is roughly 45 minutes later. Pakistan, India and Bangladesh default to Hanafi; elsewhere the standard time is the default, and a switch above the times lets you change it.
Maghrib safety margin
A Maghrib that is too early breaks a fast early, so outside the countries compared with an official table the site adds a small margin to Maghrib only (2 minutes by default, 7 for Jordan). The page states the margin whenever it applies.
Far-north and far-south cities
At high latitudes the sun may not reach the Fajr or Isha angle in summer. In that case the times use the standard "angle-based" fallback of the calculation library; local authorities may instead use a fixed night fraction or the times of a lower latitude. Follow your local mosque there.
Found a difference?
If your mosque or ministry timetable differs from this site, please tell us (see the contact page): reports are how countries move from "approximate" to "compared". Contact