Prayer times (Salah)

Prayer times in countries around the world

Salah times

Salah times refers to times when Muslims perform prayers (salah). The term is primarily used for the five daily prayers plus the Friday prayer. According to Muslim beliefs, the salat times were taught by ALLAH to Muhammad.

Prayer times are standard for Muslims in the world, especially the fard prayer times. They depend on the condition of the Sun and geography. There are varying opinions regarding the exact salah times, the schools of Islamic thought differing in minor details. All schools agree that any given prayer cannot be performed before its stipulated time.

Five daily prayers

The five daily prayers are obligatory (fard) and they are performed at times determined essentially by the position of the Sun in the sky. Hence, salah times vary at different locations on the Earth.

Fajr (dawn)

Fajr begins at subh saadiq -- true dawn or the beginning of twilight, when the morning light appears across the full width of the sky -- and ends at sunrise.

Zuhr (midday)

The time interval for offering the Zuhr or Dhuhr prayer starts after the sun passes its zenith and lasts until 20 min (approx) before the call for the Asr prayer is to be given. There is thus a long period of time within which this prayer can be offered, but people usually make their prayer within two hours after the Azan has been announced from Mosque. This prayer needs to be given in the middle of the work-day, and people normally make their prayers during their lunch break.

Shia (Jafari madhab) differs regarding end of zuhr time. Per all major Jafari jusrists, end of dhuhr time is about 10 minutes before sunset, the time that belongs exclusively to asr prayer. Dhuhr and asr time overlaps, apart from first 5 minutes of dhuhr, which is exclusively delegated for it. Asr prayer cannot be offered before zuhr in the zuhr time.

Asr (afternoon)

The Asr prayer starts when the shadow of an object is the same length as the object itself (or, according to Hanafi fiqh, twice its length) plus the shadow length at zuhr, and lasts till sunset. Asr can be split into two sections; the preferred time is before the sun starts to turn orange, while the time of necessity is from when the sun turns orange until sunset.

Shia (Jafari madhab) differs regarding start of asr time. Per all major Jafari jusrists, start of asr time is about 5 minutes after the time of sun passing through zenith, that time belongs exclusively to dhuhr prayer. Time for dhuhr and asr prayers overlap, but the zuhr prayer must be offered before asr, except the time about 10 minutes before sunset, which is delegated exclusively to asr. In the case that the mentioned time is reached, asr prayer should be offered first (ada - on time) and dhuhr (kada - make up, late) prayer should be offered after asr.

Maghrib (sunset)

Main article: Maghrib prayer

The Maghrib prayer begins when the sun sets, and lasts till the red light has left the sky in the west. It usually lasts for about 18 to 20 minutes from the start of Maghrib Time.

Isha (night)

Main article: Isha prayer

The Isha'a or isha prayer starts when the red light is gone from the western sky, and lasts until the rise of the "white light" (fajr sadiq) in the east. The preferred time for Isha is before midnight, meaning halfway between sunset and sunrise.