Calculating
prayer times.
Tap the button for today's prayer times.
Today's prayer times where you are
Tap and Saeed calculates them from your location with the Umm al Qura method. No download, no account.
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Prayer times are not a stored table
Many people assume an app just opens a ready made table for each city. It does not: every time is calculated from the sun's position relative to your latitude and longitude on that particular day.
That is why your times shift by a minute or two every day, and why the change adds up to an hour and a half at Fajr between summer and winter in some cities.
Three times with almost no disagreement
- Dhuhr: at zawal, when the sun passes the middle of the sky. One astronomical moment that leaves no room for two opinions.
- Maghrib: when the sun's disc has fully set.
- Sunrise: not a prayer time, but the end of Fajr time.
So if two apps disagree on Dhuhr or Maghrib by more than a minute or two, the problem is location accuracy, not the method.
Two reasons behind most of the differences
The first: the angle for Fajr and Isha
The sun cannot be seen at Fajr or Isha, so both are set by how far it has sunk below the horizon, and each authority uses its own angle:
| Method | Fajr angle | Isha |
|---|---|---|
| Umm al Qura (Saudi Arabia) | 18.5° | 90 minutes after Maghrib |
| Muslim World League | 18° | 17° |
| Egyptian General Authority of Survey | 19.5° | 17.5° |
| University of Islamic Sciences, Karachi | 18° | 18° |
In practice one degree means four to six minutes. So an app on 18.5 degrees and another on 19.5 can be around five minutes apart at Fajr, and both follow a recognised method.
And Umm al Qura treats Isha differently: it uses a fixed interval after Maghrib rather than an angle, and stretches it to 120 minutes in Ramadan. The details are here.
The second: the school followed for Asr
Asr begins when an object's shadow equals its length according to the majority, and twice its length according to Abu Hanifa. The gap between the two can reach an hour or more in some seasons. Umm al Qura follows the majority view. The details are here.
A third reason that has nothing to do with fiqh: your location
An app that asks for your city calculates from the city centre. An app that uses your location calculates from where you actually are. Across a large city the difference can reach three to five minutes at Maghrib.
That difference matters most in Ramadan, because people break their fast on it.
So which one is right?
That is the wrong question. All these methods are recognised scholarly judgements, and the right thing is to follow the method used in your country, so that you pray with your mosques, neither before them nor after.
In Saudi Arabia that is Umm al Qura, the method used by the tool above and by the Saeed app. The time you see here is the same one you hear from your neighbourhood mosque.
Knowing the times is one thing, catching them is another
The tool above gives you today's times. The other half is a reminder that reaches you tomorrow and every day after without you opening a page.
In the Saeed app, prayer times and qibla direction are calculated from your location, update every day and adjust themselves when you travel, and the alarm rings with the adhan, not after it. Alongside them are the full morning and evening adhkar, and the qibla direction with no internet.
The time for each prayer
- Fajr time today · and its angle
- Dhuhr time today · and zawal
- Asr time today · and the shadow question
- Maghrib time today · the shortest window
- Isha time today · and the Umm al Qura rule
Questions about calculating prayer times
How are prayer times calculated?
All of them come from the sun's position relative to where you are on that day. Dhuhr is at zawal, Asr depends on the length of a shadow, and Maghrib is at sunset. Fajr and Isha are set by how far the sun is below the horizon, and that is where most of the differences come from.
Why do prayer times differ between apps?
For three reasons: the angle used for Fajr and Isha, the school followed for the length of the Asr shadow, and how precise your location is. None of them is necessarily a mistake. They are different recognised methods, and what matters is to follow the method used in your country.
Which method is used in Saudi Arabia?
The Umm al Qura calendar: Fajr at 18.5 degrees, and Isha 90 minutes after Maghrib, or 120 in Ramadan. It is the method the mosques of the Kingdom follow, and the one used by Saeed and by the tool above.
Do I need internet to calculate prayer times?
The calculation itself does not need internet, but your device does need to know where you are. In the Saeed app your location is saved, so your times update every day, and they are recalculated automatically if you travel.
Why do my prayer times change every day?
Because the sun moves. The daily change is a minute or two, but it adds up: between summer and winter, Fajr moves by an hour and a half in some cities. A time you noted down a month ago is wrong today.
Keep every prayer on time.
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