Prayer Times Calculator

The five daily prayers follow the sun. Dhuhr starts just after the sun is highest (solar noon). Asr starts when shadows have grown by a set amount. Maghrib starts at sunset. Isha starts when the evening twilight has gone, and Fajr when the first light of dawn appears. The calculator finds these moments from the sun's position for your place and date, using the same NOAA solar equations as the sunrise and sunset calculator.

The formula

Dhuhr (UTC minutes) = 720 − 4 × longitude − equation of time
cos H = (sin a − sin latitude × sin declination) ÷ (cos latitude × cos declination)
Fajr = Dhuhr − 4 × H minutes, with a = −(Fajr angle)
Sunrise = Dhuhr − 4 × H, and Maghrib = Dhuhr + 4 × H, with a = −0.833°
Isha = Dhuhr + 4 × H with a = −(Isha angle), or Maghrib + a fixed number of minutes
Asr: a = arccot(shadow factor + tan |latitude − declination|), Asr = Dhuhr + 4 × H
shadow factor = 1 (Standard) or 2 (Hanafi)
then add your time zone's offset (with daylight saving) to get local time

H is the sun's hour angle in degrees: the sun moves 1° every 4 minutes. East longitudes are positive and west negative. The sun's declination and the equation of time come from the NOAA equations (Jean Meeus, Astronomical Algorithms), and each time is worked out again with the sun's position at that moment, which moves it by a few seconds. Times are rounded to the nearest minute.

Worked example

Take Doha (25.2854° N, 51.5310° E, UTC+3) on Tuesday 13 October 2026 with the Qatar method (Fajr 18°, Isha 90 minutes after Maghrib) and Standard Asr. At noon that day the sun's declination is −7.83° and the equation of time is +13.74 minutes.

Dhuhr: 720 − 4 × 51.5310 − 13.74 = 720 − 206.124 − 13.74 = 500.136 minutes after midnight UTC = 08:20:08 UTC = 11:20 in Doha.

For every time below, sin latitude × sin declination = 0.42713 × (−0.13623) = −0.05819, and cos latitude × cos declination = 0.90419 × 0.99068 = 0.89576.

Fajr: cos H = (sin(−18°) + 0.05819) ÷ 0.89576 = (−0.30902 + 0.05819) ÷ 0.89576 = −0.25083 ÷ 0.89576 = −0.28002, so H = 106.26° = 425.04 minutes. Fajr = 500.136 − 425.04 = 75.096 minutes UTC = 01:15:06 UTC = 04:15:06 in Doha.

Sunrise and Maghrib: cos H = (sin(−0.833°) + 0.05819) ÷ 0.89576 = (−0.01454 + 0.05819) ÷ 0.89576 = 0.04365 ÷ 0.89576 = 0.04873, so H = 87.21° = 348.83 minutes. Sunrise = 500.136 − 348.83 = 151.306 minutes UTC = 05:31:18 in Doha; Maghrib = 500.136 + 348.83 = 848.966 minutes UTC = 17:08:58 in Doha.

Asr: |25.2854° − (−7.83°)| = 33.12°, and tan 33.12° = 0.65227. The sun's altitude = arccot(1 + 0.65227) = arctan(1 ÷ 1.65227) = 31.18°. cos H = (sin 31.18° + 0.05819) ÷ 0.89576 = (0.51778 + 0.05819) ÷ 0.89576 = 0.57597 ÷ 0.89576 = 0.64299, so H = 49.98° = 199.92 minutes. Asr = 500.136 + 199.92 = 700.056 minutes UTC = 11:40:03 UTC = 14:40:03 in Doha.

Working each time again with the sun's position at that moment gives Fajr 04:14:57, sunrise 05:31:11, Asr 14:39:59 and Maghrib 17:08:44. Isha = Maghrib + 90 minutes = 18:38:44. So the calculator shows Fajr 04:15, sunrise 05:31, Dhuhr 11:20, Asr 14:40, Maghrib 17:09 and Isha 18:39. With Hanafi Asr (factor 2) the sun's altitude is 20.65° and Asr is 15:31.

Calculation methods

These are well-known published conventions, not rules of law. Fajr and Isha are given as the sun's angle below the horizon, or Isha as minutes after Maghrib. In Doha on 13 October 2026 they give:

Angles checked on 13 October 2026 against the method tables of the praytimes.org and adhan libraries. Some authorities also add a few minutes to Dhuhr, Asr or Maghrib, or round times up; use the adjustments to match yours.

Asr: Standard and Hanafi

At noon an upright stick casts its shortest shadow. Standard Asr (Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali schools) starts when the shadow equals the stick's length plus that noon shadow. Hanafi Asr starts when it equals twice the stick's length plus the noon shadow, which is later. Both are shown as the sun's altitude in the formula above.

High latitudes

North of about 48.5° (or south of −48.5°), in summer the sun may never get 18° below the horizon, so Fajr and Isha by angle do not exist. The calculator then limits the time between Fajr and sunrise (and between Maghrib and Isha) to a share of the night, from sunset to the next sunrise: half (middle of the night), one seventh, or the angle ÷ 60 (angle-based, so 18° gives 18/60 = 0.3 of the night). In London on 21 June 2026, with the Muslim World League method, Fajr is 01:02 (middle of the night), 03:40 (one seventh) or 02:31 (angle-based). Where the sun does not rise or set at all, only Dhuhr is shown; follow your local community's timetable.

How accurate is it?

The sun's position is good to well under a minute between 72° N and 72° S. Real prayer timetables also depend on the exact coordinates and height used for a city, on rounding and on safety minutes, so allow a minute or two. City coordinates are for the city centre.

Method: NOAA solar equations, checked against an independent implementation of the praytimes.org formulas (written separately in Python) for Doha, Makkah, London, New York and Dubai on fixed dates in 2026, including Ramadan and high-latitude cases; all within a few seconds. The Hijri date uses the Umm al-Qura calendar; the Islamic day begins at Maghrib. Local times use your browser's time zone database, so daylight saving is applied for the date you pick.