How we calculate prayer times

Prayer times depend on the sun's position, so every city has its own times. Websites and apps often disagree by a few minutes because they use different calculation conventions and skip the adjustments that official authorities apply. Our rule is simple: where an official timetable exists, our times must match it.

Our process for each country

• Find the official source. For example, the General Authority of Islamic Affairs, Endowments and Zakat in the UAE.
• Match the method. We set the twilight angles and minute adjustments so our calculated times match the official timetable.
• Check before publishing. A city goes live only after its calculated times match the official timetable across sample dates through the year.
• Re-check regularly and show the date of the last check on every city page.

The UAE method

For the UAE we follow the timetable of the General Authority of Islamic Affairs, Endowments and Zakat. Our calculation matches it with these settings:

• Fajr and Isha: sun 18.2° below the horizon.
• Asr: standard method (when an object's shadow equals its length plus its noon shadow).
• Fixed adjustments, as in the official timetable: about 3 minutes earlier for Sunrise, and about 3 minutes later for Dhuhr and Maghrib and 1 minute later for Asr.

Checked on 20 October 2026 against the official 2026 timetables for Abu Dhabi and Dubai, every day of the year: every time was within 1 minute, and about 87% matched to the minute. An automatic test repeats this check every time the site is updated.

Friday prayer

Friday prayer times are set by authorities, not by the sun alone. For example, since January 2026 all UAE mosques hold the Friday sermon and prayer at 12:45 pm. We publish these as announced and update them when they change.

When to follow your mosque instead

Your local mosque or official religious authority always takes precedence over any website, including this one.