When Each Prayer Starts and Ends: The Five Time Windows

The Fajr window opens at subh sadiq (true dawn), the moment a horizontal band of light first spreads along the horizon, and it closes at sunrise. Once the sun's disc appears, the window for the obligatory Fajr has ended. Because dawn is defined by a fixed angle of the sun below the horizon, its clock time shifts with the seasons and with your latitude.

Dhuhr opens just after zawal — the instant the sun passes its highest point (solar noon) and begins to decline. This is why Dhuhr is never exactly at 12:00 on the clock: it tracks the sun's true meridian crossing for your longitude. The window remains open until the time for Asr begins.

Asr begins when an object's shadow grows to a set length. In the majority view (Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali) this is when the shadow equals the object's own height plus its length at midday; in the Hanafi view it is when the shadow reaches twice the object's height plus the midday shadow — which is why some timetables list a slightly later Asr. The window lasts until sunset, though praying before the sun turns yellow is preferred.

Maghrib opens the moment the sun's disc fully disappears below the horizon and closes when the red glow of dusk (shafaq) fades — which is also the moment Isha begins. It is the shortest window of the day, typically around an hour to an hour and a quarter, so it is usually prayed soon after sunset.

Isha opens when the twilight has faded and true night has set in. Scholars distinguish a preferred end (Islamic midnight — the midpoint between sunset and dawn) from a permissible end (the arrival of true dawn). Praying before midnight is best; praying after it without excuse is discouraged, though the prayer remains valid until dawn.

Because every boundary is anchored to the sun rather than the clock, the times drift by a minute or two each day and can differ sharply between two cities at the same longitude but different latitudes — especially near the poles in summer. That is exactly what a calculated timetable is for. See our guide on how prayer times are calculated for the astronomy behind each boundary.