How we calculate prayer times and the Qibla
Every number on Al Qibla Finder is calculated, never estimated. This page explains how, and which official sources we follow.
The position of the sun
All prayer times come from the position of the sun at your location. We use the solar equations published by NOAA, based on the work of Jean Meeus, which are accurate to a fraction of a minute. The calculation runs on your device and does not need a server.
Official methods by country
Each authority defines its own twilight angles for Fajr and Isha and adds its own safety minutes:
- Morocco: Ministry of Habous and Islamic Affairs, Fajr 19°, Isha 17°, with extra minutes for sunrise, Dhuhr and Maghrib.
- Türkiye: Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı, Fajr 18°, Isha 17°, with temkin of −7 minutes at sunrise, +5 at Dhuhr, +4 at Asr and +7 at Maghrib.
- Indonesia: Kementerian Agama (Kemenag), Fajr 20°, Isha 18°, with 2 to 3 minutes of ihtiyat, rounded up.
- Saudi Arabia: Umm al-Qura calendar, Fajr 18.5°, Isha 90 minutes after Maghrib (120 minutes in Ramadan).
- North America: ISNA, Fajr and Isha at 15°.
- Other countries: Muslim World League, Fajr 18°, Isha 17°, unless a national method is listed in the settings.
How we check our results
We compare our results with the official timetables minute by minute. In our latest check, our times were within one minute of the official times on every day tested for the Ministry of Habous (Agadir, Casablanca, Rabat), Diyanet (Istanbul, a full year), Kemenag (Jakarta, a full year) and the Umm al-Qura calendar (Makkah, a full year), and exactly equal on most days. A one-minute difference can appear when the authority rounds a time differently. Each city page shows when it was last checked.
Local time and summer time
Times are shown in the local time of the city, using the international time-zone database, so summer time is included automatically. We also correct recent changes that some phones do not know yet: since 20 September 2026 Morocco uses GMT all year, with no change during Ramadan.
Long summer nights
Where twilight lasts all night in summer, we use the angle-based rule recommended by the Muslim World League: Fajr and Isha are limited to a share of the night proportional to the twilight angle. You can choose another rule in the settings.
The Hijri date
The Hijri date follows the official Umm al-Qura calendar of Saudi Arabia. Many countries begin each month after their own moon sighting, so the local date can differ by one day. Our city pages apply a correction for each country, and you can adjust it in the settings of the prayer-times page.
The Qibla direction
The Qibla is calculated along the great circle, the shortest path over the Earth, to the Kaaba at 21.4225° N, 39.8262° E. Phone compasses point to magnetic north, so the live compass corrects the reading with the World Magnetic Model (WMM2025) of NOAA and the British Geological Survey. Read more about the Qibla calculation.
Found a mistake?
If a time on Al Qibla Finder differs from your official local timetable, please write to contact@alqiblafinder.com with your city, the date and the official time. We check every report.