Understanding prayer time calculations
This page explains how Pray.Zone builds prayer times from calculation methods, twilight angles, the Asr juristic setting, and high-latitude adjustments.
Overview
Prayer times begin with your location, date, and time zone. After that, the selected calculation preset decides the twilight angles for Fajr and Isha, the juristic rule for Asr, and the fallback logic used in very high latitudes.
Most users should keep the official method used in their country or city. The custom settings are there for people who want to match a local mosque, council, or school of thought more precisely.
Calculation Methods
Each method preset bundles together a known convention for Fajr, Isha, and sometimes special regional adjustments. Choosing a method in the settings drawer automatically fills the related angles, Asr madhab, and high-latitude rule.
Muslim World League
Muslim World League recommended method – 18° for both Fajr and Isha.
Egyptian General Authority of Survey
Official Egyptian method – Fajr ≈19.5°, Isha ≈17.5°.
University of Islamic Sciences, Karachi
University of Islamic Sciences Karachi – 18° for Fajr and Isha.
Umm Al-Qura University, Mecca
Umm Al-Qura (Mecca) method – Isha fixed 90 minutes after Maghrib.
Dubai
Dubai Islamic Affairs method – angles around 18.5°.
Moon Sighting Committee
Global Moon Sighting Committee – primarily based on actual visual moon sighting.
Islamic Society of North America
Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) method – 15° for Fajr and Isha.
Kuwait
Official Kuwait method – moderate angles per official calendar.
Qatar
Official Qatar method – based on official calendar and local angles.
Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura
MUIS Singapore method – 20° for Fajr and Isha.
Union des Organisations Islamiques de France
UOIF France method – 12° for Fajr and Isha.
Department of Islamic Advancement, Malaysia (JAKIM)
JAKIM (Malaysia) method – 20° for Fajr and Isha.
Ithna Ashari
Twelver Shia method – Fajr 16°, Isha 14°.
Institute of Geophysics, University of Tehran
Institute of Geophysics, University of Tehran – Fajr 17.7°, Isha 14°.
Turkey
Turkish Diyanet (Religious Affairs) method – approximately 12° angles.
Morocco
Official Moroccan method – Fajr 19°, Isha 18°.
Indonesia
Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs – based on moon sighting and local calculations.
Algerian
Official Algerian method – uses moderate angles according to the local calendar.
Sihat Kemenag
Shared.CalculationMethods.SihatKemenagDescription
Russia
Shared.CalculationMethods.RussiaDescription
Tunisian
Shared.CalculationMethods.TunisianDescription
Fajr Angle (°)
The Fajr angle is the solar depression used to estimate true dawn. A larger angle usually makes Fajr earlier because it assumes dawn begins while the sun is farther below the horizon.
Isha Angle (°)
The Isha angle is the solar depression used for the night prayer. A larger angle usually makes Isha later because the model waits for deeper twilight before considering nightfall complete.
Asr Madhab
The Asr juristic setting changes only the Asr prayer. The standard option follows the Shafi'i, Maliki, and Hanbali opinion, while Hanafi uses a later shadow ratio and therefore produces a later Asr time.
High Latitude Rule
In places where twilight remains for a very long time, or does not fully disappear in some seasons, standard angle-based calculations can become unreliable. High-latitude rules provide a fallback so Fajr and Isha remain usable.
Middle of the Night
Splits the night in half and uses the midpoint as a practical limit.
One-Seventh of the Night
Uses one-seventh of the night as the adjustment window for dawn and nightfall.
Angle-Based / 1/60th of night
Keeps the twilight-angle idea but scales it to a fraction of the night.
Custom settings
When you change the angles, Asr madhab, or high-latitude rule manually, the site can treat your setup as a custom configuration. That is useful when you want to follow a local mosque timetable rather than a national default preset.