How to use the prayer times tool
This tool shows astronomically calculated times for the five daily prayers in your city, covering 64 US cities with major Arab and Muslim communities. You can pick your city manually or tap "use my location" to let your browser calculate your coordinates and match the nearest city automatically. You'll also find a separate Ramadan timetable for your city to plan fasting and taraweeh ahead of time.
How to use it, step by step
- Choose your city from the list, or tap "Use my location" and allow browser access (your location is never stored on any server).
- Choose a calculation method (ISNA, Muslim World League, Egypt, Umm al-Qura) in settings if you want more precision than the default.
- Set the Asr calculation school (Hanafi or standard) if your usual mosque follows the Hanafi school, since Asr falls slightly later in that case.
- Open the Ramadan tab for your city to see suhoor and iftar times for the whole month at once.
Available methods and when to pick each
There's no single "correct" method worldwide; the difference comes from the sun-angle-below-horizon used to calculate Fajr and Isha:
| Method | Fajr angle | Isha angle | Most common among |
|---|---|---|---|
| ISNA (Islamic Society of North America) | 15° | 15° | Many mosques across the US and Canada |
| Muslim World League (MWL) | 18° | 17° | Mosques with a South Asian or Gulf background |
| Egyptian General Authority of Survey | 19.5° | 17.5° | Mosques with an Egyptian or Levantine background |
| Umm al-Qura (Mecca) | 18.5° | fixed 90 min after Maghrib | Worshippers who follow the Saudi calendar |
The gap between methods is usually just a few minutes for Fajr and Isha, while Dhuhr, Asr, and Maghrib are nearly identical across methods since they don't depend on a debated angle.
Tip: If you're not sure which method to use, ask your usual mosque's imam which one they follow, and set the same method in the tool so your times match the mosque's.
Why do nearby mosques differ by minutes?
The usual reason is the calculation method in use (see the table above), or a mosque following the Hanafi school for Asr, which delays it by extra minutes, or simply a mosque committee's added safety margin of a few minutes to make sure the time has genuinely entered before iqama. This variation is normal and jurisprudentially accepted — neither side is "wrong."
Practical tips for Arabs in the US
- In northern cities far from the equator (like Seattle or Minneapolis), the gap between Fajr and Isha can stretch noticeably in summer — check your specific city's times rather than assuming based on experience back home.
- Bookmark the tool on your phone to check times quickly at work or while commuting, especially in cities without a nearby mosque calling the adhan.
- When traveling between states in different time zones, make sure to reselect your city in the tool rather than relying on your home city's times.
Common mistakes
The most common mistake is comparing this tool's times to another app using a different calculation method and concluding one of them is "wrong" — both are valid under different scholarly approaches. Another is forgetting to switch the Asr school for those who pray at a Hanafi mosque, ending up praying Asr earlier than the locally observed time.
What's next
For a full guide to Ramadan in the US, see Ramadan in the USA, and to understand your religious rights at work see religious accommodation at work.
These times are astronomically calculated and may differ by a minute or two from your local mosque's announcement; when in doubt, follow your mosque's times.
For a reference on recognized calculation methods, see isna.net – Islamic Society of North America.