The five daily prayers: names, times, and windows

The five prayers at a glance

Muslims pray five times a day, and each prayer has a name and a place in the day:

• Fajr, prayed in the last part of the night, before the sun rises.
• Dhuhr, prayed in the early afternoon, once the sun has passed its highest point.
• Asr, prayed in the later afternoon, as shadows lengthen.
• Maghrib, prayed just after the sun sets.
• Isha, prayed at night, once the last light of dusk has gone.

One thing surprises many people learning the prayers for the first time: each prayer is a window, not a single instant. A time like "Fajr 5:12" is when the window opens. The prayer can be offered any time from then until the window closes, which for most prayers is when the next one enters. Praying early in the window is widely encouraged, and praying with the congregation at the mosque is its own reward, but there is room in each one.

Each prayer's window, in plain terms

Fajr begins at true dawn, when the first light spreads along the horizon while the sky is still dark, and it ends at sunrise. It is the shortest-feeling window for most people, because it sits inside the quietest part of the morning.

Dhuhr begins just after the sun passes its zenith, the highest point of its arc for the day. On the clock this is usually a little after midday, though rarely exactly at 12:00, since solar noon and clock noon are not the same thing. The window runs until Asr enters. On Fridays, the congregational Jumu'ah prayer takes Dhuhr's place for those who attend it.

Asr falls in the afternoon and is defined by shadow length: it begins when an object's shadow reaches a set multiple of its height. There are two long-standing conventions for that multiple. The position followed by the Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali schools puts Asr earlier in the afternoon, and the Hanafi position puts it later. Both are established and widely followed; we explain the difference properly in our guide to Asr time. The window runs until sunset, though praying well before the sun begins to set is preferred.

Maghrib begins at sunset, the moment the sun's disc slips below the horizon, and runs until nightfall. Of the five it has the narrowest comfortable window, which is why mosques tend to call Maghrib promptly.

Isha begins at nightfall, once the twilight after sunset has faded and the sky is properly dark. Its window extends into the night. How late it reasonably runs is discussed by scholars in more detail than a short guide can do justice to; the practical habit most communities keep is praying it in the earlier part of the night.

Why the times move every day and differ by city

Prayer times follow the sun, not the clock. Dawn, noon, sunset and nightfall arrive at slightly different moments each day as the earth moves through its year, so every prayer time drifts by a minute or so daily, and by hours across the seasons. Fajr in midsummer can be startlingly early; Maghrib in midwinter comes not long after lunch in some places.

Latitude matters as much as the date. The further you live from the equator, the more the day's length swings between summer and winter, so the times spread and squeeze more dramatically. And because the sun reaches each longitude at a different moment, two cities in the same country keep different timetables. This is why there is no universal prayer schedule, only a schedule for a place. If you are curious how the actual numbers are produced from the sun's position, we walk through it in how prayer times are calculated.

Why your app and your mosque can disagree

Two honest sources can show two different times. Apps compute the astronomical start of each prayer, and several accepted conventions exist for the trickier definitions (chiefly the twilight angles behind Fajr and Isha, and the shadow ratio behind Asr), so two apps using different conventions land a few minutes apart. Mosques then take a calculation and adapt it for a congregation: rounding to a tidy minute, setting the adhan slightly after the computed moment, and holding the iqamah, the call to actually line up and pray, a fixed while later so people can arrive.

Neither source is wrong. The calculation answers "when does the time enter here", and the board answers "when does this community pray". If what you want on your phone is the second answer, ImanKeeper matches your own mosque's posted timetable: pick your masjid from the directory, photograph its board, or type the times in, and your phone carries the same times as the wall. During each window it can also set your distracting apps gently aside until you have prayed, if you ask it to.

A note on scope

This guide describes the five prayers and their windows as they are commonly taught, so that timetables and apps make sense. It is not a religious ruling on obligation, missed prayers, or the validity of praying at a particular moment. For those questions, and for which positions to follow in your own practice, ask your local imam.

Questions people ask

What are the five daily prayers?

The five daily prayers are Fajr (before sunrise), Dhuhr (early afternoon), Asr (later afternoon), Maghrib (just after sunset) and Isha (at night). Together they are one of the pillars of Islam, spaced through the day from before dawn to nightfall.

What time is each prayer?

Each prayer's time comes from the sun's position where you are, so the clock times differ by city and shift a little each day. Broadly: Fajr runs from true dawn until sunrise, Dhuhr begins just after the sun passes its highest point, Asr falls in the afternoon, Maghrib begins at sunset, and Isha begins at nightfall. A timetable for your own city, or your mosque's board, gives the exact minutes.

Do I have to pray at the exact start time?

Each prayer has a window, not a single instant. It opens at the prayer's start time and runs until the next prayer enters (or until sunrise, in Fajr's case). Praying early in the window is widely encouraged, and many people pray with their congregation at the mosque's set time, but the whole window is there. For questions about your own situation, ask your local imam.

Why do prayer times change every day?

Because they follow the sun, not the clock. The sun rises, peaks and sets at slightly different times each day as the seasons turn, and its path depends on your latitude. So Fajr creeps earlier through spring, Maghrib drifts later toward summer, and the same date gives different times in Sydney, London and Kuala Lumpur.

Why does my app not match my mosque?

Apps calculate the astronomical start of each prayer, and there are several accepted calculation conventions, so two sources can differ by a few minutes. Mosques also round their posted times and hold the congregation (iqamah) a set while after the adhan. ImanKeeper can match your own mosque's posted timetable directly, so the times on your phone are the times on the wall.