How we calculate prayer times (and how accurate they are)

The calculation

Times are computed astronomically for each city centre's coordinates in its own time zone (including daylight saving in Egypt). Fajr and Isha use the sun's angle below the horizon, Dhuhr follows solar noon, Asr is when an object's shadow equals its length (Hanafi also shown), Maghrib is sunset, plus any precaution minutes the official tables add.

Saudi Arabia

Umm al-Qura: Fajr 18.5°, Isha 90 minutes after Maghrib, 120 minutes during Ramadan. As in the Umm al-Qura tables, prayer times are rounded up to the next minute and sunrise down.

Egypt

Egyptian General Authority of Survey: Fajr 19.5°, Isha 17.5°, rounded to the nearest minute with no minutes added, as in the Authority's tables.

Algeria and Tunisia

The ministries publish tables, not a formula. We use equivalent angles (Algeria 18°/17°, Tunisia 18°/18°) and add the precaution minutes found in the official tables. Algeria: Maghrib 3 minutes after sunset, 1 minute added to Asr, all times rounded up. Outside Algiers the ministry applies fixed monthly offsets from Algiers, so its tables can differ from ours by up to 3 minutes. Tunisia: Dhuhr 7 minutes after solar noon, Maghrib 2–3 minutes after sunset, Asr 1–2 minutes later, Isha rounded up.

Morocco

Ministry of Habous and Islamic Affairs: Fajr 19°, Isha 17°, with per-city sunrise and Maghrib offsets. As in the Habous tables: Dhuhr 5 minutes and Asr about 1 minute after the astronomical time, Fajr half a minute before it, rounded to the nearest minute. Sunrise and Maghrib carry an offset that differs from place to place and grows with altitude.

Jordan

Ministry of Awqaf, Islamic Affairs and Holy Places: Fajr 18°, Isha 18°, with per-city sunrise and Maghrib offsets. As in the Awqaf tables, times are rounded to the nearest minute with no minutes added to Fajr, Dhuhr, Asr or Isha. Sunrise and Maghrib carry an offset that differs from city to city.

United Arab Emirates

General Authority of Islamic Affairs, Endowments and Zakat: Fajr 18.2°, Isha 18.2°, with precaution minutes. As in the GAIAE / IACAD tables: sunrise 3 minutes earlier; Dhuhr 3, Asr 1 and Maghrib 3 minutes later, rounded to the nearest minute.

Qatar

Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs: Fajr 18°, Isha 90 minutes after Maghrib. As in the Ministry of Awqaf service: Fajr 1 minute earlier, Maghrib 2 minutes later, Isha 90 minutes after Maghrib (plus the same 2 minutes), rounded to the nearest minute. The Ministry publishes times for Doha only.

Oman

Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs: Fajr 18°, Isha 18°, Dhuhr, Asr and Maghrib +5 minutes. As in the Ministry’s calendar, Dhuhr, Asr and Maghrib are each 5 minutes later than the astronomical time, and times are rounded to the nearest minute.

Turkey

Diyanet (Presidency of Religious Affairs): Fajr 18°, Isha 17°, with the official precaution minutes (temkin). As in the Diyanet tables, times are rounded to the nearest minute after the official precaution minutes (temkin): sunrise 7 minutes earlier; Dhuhr 5, Asr 4 and Maghrib 7 minutes later. The Sun’s position is taken once per day (0h UT), as the Diyanet does.

Indonesia

Ministry of Religious Affairs (Kemenag): Fajr 20°, Isha 18°, with safety minutes (ihtiyat). As in the Kemenag tables, safety minutes (ihtiyat) are added: about 2 minutes to each prayer (3 to Dhuhr) and about 2 taken off sunrise, and times are rounded up. We reproduce this with the equivalent offsets, checked against 6 cities.

Malaysia

JAKIM (Department of Islamic Development): Fajr 18°, Isha 18°, with 2 minutes of precaution, one set of times per zone. As in the JAKIM tables, 2 minutes of precaution are added to Fajr, Asr, Maghrib and Isha (3 to Dhuhr) and times are rounded to the nearest minute. JAKIM publishes one set of times per zone, calculated at a reference point of the zone.

Singapore

MUIS (Islamic Religious Council of Singapore): Fajr 20°, Isha 18°, Dhuhr +1 minute. As in the MUIS timetable, Dhuhr is 1 minute after solar noon and times are rounded up to the next minute.

Brunei

Ministry of Religious Affairs: Fajr 20°, Isha 18°, Dhuhr +1 minute. As in the Ministry of Religious Affairs timetable (Taqwim 2026), Dhuhr is 1 minute after solar noon and times are rounded to the nearest minute. The ministry lists Tutong +1 minute and Belait +3 minutes from Bandar Seri Begawan.

What we checked, and what we fitted

For the ten newest countries we applied the official angles and minutes and compared them day by day with the published timetables. In Malaysia, the UAE, Morocco and Jordan the authority does not publish its reference point or its per-city sunrise and Maghrib offsets, so we fitted them to the published tables, and each city page says so. Cities we could not compare with an official table use the country defaults and are marked as lower confidence.

Imsak and the calendar

Imsak is shown 10 minutes before Fajr as a precaution. Hijri dates use the Umm al-Qura calendar; Ramadan and Eid dates are "expected" until each country's moon-sighting announcement.