Prayer Times
Prayer times FAQ
Plain answers about the Ja'fari Maghrib boundary, the Qum and Tehran calculation profiles, and exactly how the timetables on this site are produced.
This is an educational summary, not a personal religious ruling. Where practice differs, follow the guidance of your marja or local religious authority.
The Ja'fari Maghrib boundary
Astronomical sunset is the moment the sun's disc drops below the horizon. Ja'fari discussions of Maghrib commonly reference the disappearance of the redness in the eastern sky, which occurs after that moment — so a Ja'fari timetable treats Maghrib as a boundary reached later than sunset, not as sunset itself.
Our timetable makes this visible by listing Sunset and Maghrib as separate rows. Because Ja'fari practice permits combining Dhuhr with Asr and Maghrib with Isha, the Maghrib boundary also marks the point after which Isha may be performed.
Marked for scholarly review before this claim is presented as verified.
Qum and Tehran methods
A calculation method is a package of documented parameters rather than a single number. The two profiles we offer are the Shia Ithna-Ashari profile associated with the Leva Institute in Qum, and the Institute of Geophysics profile from the University of Tehran.
Their published settings are: Qum — Fajr at a 16° depression angle, Maghrib at 4°, Isha at 14°. Tehran — Fajr at 17.7°, Maghrib at 4.5°, Isha at 14°. Both use the standard (Shafi'i) shadow-ratio treatment for Asr and are paired with Ja'fari midnight on this site.
The angle differences sound small but produce differences of minutes, and those minutes widen at higher latitudes and in the summer months. That is why the method stays visible beside every timetable here.
How the times on this site are calculated
Each city page stores fixed coordinates and an IANA timezone. Daily times are requested for those coordinates from the AlAdhan prayer-time API using the selected method, the standard Asr school, and Ja'fari midnight (the midpoint between Maghrib and Fajr) for midnight-based timings.
The response is checked before display: if the provider returns data for a different method, timezone or date than the one requested, it is rejected rather than shown. The source, method, timezone and date are all printed on the page with the timetable.
A calculated timetable is still an estimate. Horizon height, weather and the exact convention your community follows can shift real-world times by minutes, so where a marja or a locally reviewed centre timetable differs, follow the guidance you normally rely on.
Review status
This FAQ is an educational summary drafted editorially and awaiting scholarly review. It is not a personal religious ruling; your marja's guidance and your local religious authority take precedence.
Marked for scholarly review before this claim is presented as verified.
Questions
- Why does Ja'fari Maghrib come after sunset?
- Because the boundary discussed in Ja'fari jurisprudence is commonly the disappearance of the redness in the eastern sky, which happens after the sun's disc drops below the horizon. Calculators express this as a twilight depression angle — 4° for the Qum profile, 4.5° for Tehran — rather than a fixed number of minutes.
- What is the difference between the Qum and Tehran methods?
- Fajr uses a 16° depression angle in the Qum profile and 17.7° in the Tehran profile; Maghrib uses 4° and 4.5° respectively. Isha is 14° in both. The practical difference is minutes, widening at higher latitudes.
- Which method should I choose?
- Use the one your community or marja follows. If you do not know, compare a locally reviewed timetable with each profile on a city page and choose the one that matches.
- Are the displayed times exact to the minute?
- No. Calculated times are estimates from documented angles and coordinates. Local horizon, elevation and jurisprudential detail can shift actual times, so treat them as an aid and follow your local authority where it differs.
- Why do these times differ from my mosque's timetable?
- Most differences come down to the calculation method, the Asr convention, seasonal adjustment rules, or a manually reviewed local timetable. The method checklist guide walks through each cause.
- What is Ja'fari midnight?
- The midpoint between Maghrib and Fajr, used in Ja'fari rulings on the end time for Isha and related matters. Our timetables request midnight timings from the provider using this definition.
- How are timezones and daylight saving handled?
- Each city stores its IANA timezone, and times are requested for today's date in that timezone. Around daylight-saving changes, always refresh the timetable and re-check it against local announcements.
Sources
Next useful step
Find Ja'fari prayer times for your city, or read how those times are calculated.