New Muslims · Prayer Times
The five daily prayers
Five prayers, spread across the day and night. Here is each one - its name, how many units it is, and roughly when it falls.
Every prayer has a time window that opens and closes with the movement of the sun. Learn the five names and the shape of the day here; use a trusted app or your local mosque timetable for the exact minute in your city.
| Prayer | What it is | Obligatory units | Sunnah units | Roughly when |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fajr | The dawn prayer | 2 | 2 before | From dawn until sunrise. Prayed in the dark, before first light. |
| Dhuhr | The midday prayer | 4 | 4 before, 2 after | After the sun passes its highest point, through the early afternoon. |
| Asr | The afternoon prayer | 4 | - | Mid-afternoon until sunset. Do not let it slip to the last minutes. |
| Maghrib | The sunset prayer | 3 | 2 after | Straight after the sun sets. A short window - pray it promptly. |
| Isha | The night prayer | 4 | 2 after | After twilight ends, until dawn. Best prayed before the middle of the night. |
Witr
After Isha, pray Witr - an odd number of units, usually three, prayed as the last thing at night. The how-to-pray guide has the qunut dua for the final unit.
Friday
On Friday, the midday Dhuhr prayer is replaced for men by Jumu’ah - two units prayed in congregation at the mosque, after a short sermon (khutbah). If you cannot get to Jumu’ah, you pray Dhuhr as normal.
Pray on time
It is best to pray each prayer as soon as its time comes in. Do not delay a prayer without a real reason, and never push it past the end of its window. Allah says the prayer is set on the believers at fixed times.
If you miss one
Missing a prayer on purpose is serious. If you miss one - asleep, or simply forgot - pray it the moment you remember, exactly as you would have on time, then get straight back on schedule. It is made up, not written off.
The day already has a rhythm
Five stops to stand in front of Allah, built into the hours you already have - before work, midday, afternoon, sunset, night. Most people who struggle with prayer do not struggle with belief. They struggle with the habit. Habits move when something is anchoring them. That is the whole idea behind the method on the rest of this site.