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After uttering the testification of faith, (Shahaadah), the most basic ritual act of worship is the performance of the five daily prayers, (Salaah). As with all ritual acts, these prayers are performed in a specific manner demonstrated by the prophet Muhammad (ﷺ).
“Pray as you see me pray…” [Sahih al Bukhari]
The five prayers are spread out during the day and the precise timings have been specified by Allah:
“Verily, the prayer is enjoined on the believers at fixed hours.”
[Qur’an, 4:103]
As the times are based upon the positioning of the sun, our times have been worked out from data from Her Majesty’s Nautical Almanac Office based upon I7.5 degrees which determines the exact times of sunrise, sunset, zenith and twilights. (http://astro.ukho.gov.uk ) (https://www.muwaqqit.com).
From a shari’ah perspective, the times of the prayers are summarised here:
Fajr – This is the first prayer and its timing begins when the first light appears (beginning of twilight) and ends at sunrise.
Zhuhr – This is the second prayer and its timing begins after the sun starts declining from its zenith and ends at Asr time.
Asr – This is the third prayer and there as a difference of opinion regarding its staring time. The majority of scholars hold that it begins at the first Mithl (Mithl1) which occurs when an object is the same size as its shadow. The Hanafi school of thought hold the view that it starts when the shadow is twice its size (Mithl2). We have both timings on our calendar. The end time for Asr is until the sun glows pale before sunset.
Maghrib – This is the fourth prayer and its timing begins when the sun sets and should be prayed as soon as possible although it will be still valid until Esha.
Esha – This is the fifth prayer and its timing begins when the redness of twilight (or whiteness for Hanafis) disappears. It should be performed within the first third of the night (or before half of the night for Malikis and Hanbalis).
Further FAQs
Why are your prayer times different from other Mosques?
Most of the times are the same on the majority of calendars, but there may be a disparity between the starting times of Fajr and Esha. This is because they are based upon the appearance and disappearance of twilight.
The position of the United Kingdom is globally above a latitude of 44 degrees. This means that during the summer months, between 24 May and 18 July, twilight does not fully disappear which particularly affects the starting time for Fajr, and also the times for Esha. This is a phenomenon known as persistent twilight and can be illustrated in the graphic below which clearly shows how true night does not enter.
It is for this reason, as Ramadan approached the summer months around 2011 some mosques convened meetings in order to seek solutions for it. The outcome was that London Central Mosque adopted a new timetable called the ‘London Unified Timetable’ which avoided persistent twilight and was based upon calculations. This was followed by most other centres and organisations such as Hizb ul Ulama, as they based their timetables on London Central Mosque. Some organisations such as Wifaq ul Ulama continued to follow the traditional methods.
We have chosen to follow the traditionally, globally accepted values of about 17.5 degrees without any manipulation to the times. One of the main reasons behind our decision was that although there exists the flexibility to calculate the prayer times during persistent twilight, there is no permission to ignore the Shari’ah signs and follow calculations instead. The new ‘London Unified Timetable’ extended the modified times to the months immediately before and after the phenomenon, despite the Shari’ah signs being present, so that the starting times are based upon calculations only and not by the appearance or disappearance of twilight as determined from the sunnah. The reasoning for this can be found on the ICCUK website.
Why does your Fajr time start so early?
The time for Fajr enters when the first light appears. This has been taken from the timings published by Her Majesty’s Nautical Almanac Office based upon 17.5 degrees (http://astro.ukho.gov.uk) (https://www.muwaqqit.com). During the period of persistent twilight, we have chosen to keep Fajr at the last time that it entered in the period just before it, when the Shari’ah sign for it still existed.
What is meant by Mith1 (Standard) and Mithl2 (Hanafi) for ‘Asr?
The majority of scholars determine the entrance of ‘Asr as the time when an object is the same height as the shadow. The Hanafi based it upon the time that the shadow is twice the size as the object. We have opted to put both times on our calendar to allow people to follow their own school of thought.
How did you calculate the time for Esha?
The time for Esha is also based upon the disappearance of twilight. However, unlike Fajr, there is some flexibility to bring it closer to Maghrib due to hardship (Mashaqqah). We have kept our Esha Jama’ah late to ensure the time has fully entered for as long as possible, as there should be no rush to pray it early. The sunnah is that Esha should be done late.
Zayd ibn Khalid al-Juhani narrated that he heard Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) saying: If it were not burdensome upon my Ummah I would have commanded them to use miswak at every prayer and to delay the night prayer till the third part of the night is over. [Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 23]
It was narrated that Abu Barzah Al-Aslami said: “The Messenger of Allah used to like to delay the ‘Isha’, and he disliked sleeping before it, and engaging in conversation after it.” [Sunan Ibn Majah 701]
We have brought our Jama’ah time forward due to hardship. However, we recommend wherever possible to pray it late if someone is praying at home and can pray it later.
Will Esha be accepted if it is prayed before the actual start time?
The better time to pray Esha is when the shari’ah signs permit. This was the command given by Allah. The interpretation of this in the modern day is varied with some challenging the notion of fixed depression of the sun. Others accept that in countries with a high latitude, there exists some flexibility in the shari’ah rulings to bring forward Esha times (similar to joining the prayers when travelling) due to hardship.
Therefore, as this is a scholarly matter, there is scope for disagreement and prayers are still valid according to these interpretations.
Are your Islamic dates accurate?
The Islamic dates is determined by the sighting of the new moon. At present, the UK does not have a universally agreed body to accept the sighting of the moon. This means that the vast majority of centres simply follow international announcements relating to the sighting of the moon.
As the dates of starting and ending of Ramadan and Eids are communal acts of worship, unlike prayer times – this should be done by following the local community.
Abu Hurairah narrated that the Prophet said: “The fast is the day the people fast, the breaking of the fast is the day the people break their fast, and the sacrifice is the day the people sacrifice.” [Jami` at-Tirmidhi 697]
This hadith emphasizes following the majority in determining the start and end of Ramadan and Eid, rather than acting individually such as for prayer times.