Salat Time

Salat Time; how-know of your local prayer timings

Introduction:

The time of the day varies from region to region and from country to country in many cases. The time of the day is calculated by considering the location of the Sun, for example, at noon; the Sun will always be on top of our head. The Salat time (Prayer time) is always calculated using the Sun as a reference for the Prayer times. Using this method, Muslims can form a Namaz time table.

How do we know the timings of the Prayers?

Like all other commandments from Allah, Namaz (salat) was also made obligatory with guidance regarding how to pray it, when to pray it and why to pray it. All of this being safely brought to us in the form of the Holy Prophet (ﷺ)'s Ahadith and the Holy Quranic verses. We get to know about the exact permissible timings of Namaz through the Holy Prophet as the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was asked about the times of prayers. He said:

"The time for the morning prayer (lasts) as long as the first visible part of the rising sun does not appear and the time of the noon prayer is when the sun declines from the zenith and there is not a time for the afternoon prayer and the time for the afternoon prayer is so long as the sun does not become pale and its first visible part does not set, and the time for the evening prayer is that when the sun disappears and (it lasts) till the twilight is no more and the time for the night prayer is up to the midnight."

In simpler terms:

Time
Fajr	When the sky starts to lighten in the morning (Dawn).
Sunrise	When the first part of the sun appears above the horizon.
Zuhur	When the sun starts to decline after reaching its highest point (sometime afternoon).
Asr	The time when the length of the object reaches a factor of (1 or 2), that is, when its shadow gets x1 or x2 of the actual size of the object (plus the size of its shadow at noon).
Sunset	The time when the Sun disappears below the horizon.
Maghrib	Right after sunset.
Isha	The time when there is no scattered light from the sun visible in the sky.
Midnight	The mean time from sunset to sunrise.

How to ensure that you don’t forget or miss your prayer timings?

In this age and time, there are multiple ways to make sure that you do not miss out on your timely prayers and that you do not forget about them. You might be moving to another city or country and might want information about your exact prayer timings there or you might be newly starting prayers. Unlike older times, now you have the easy availability of the internet, where you have apps and websites that can hold Namaz timetables and Salat times according to the city you're in, be it any.

These new apps and websites usually utilize complex coding that can easily calculate accurate timings for all five prayers according to your current city location.

If you are interested more in using contemporary ways of knowing the salat timings, you can either go and contact your local Mosque and ask the administration or the Imam regarding the Namaz time table or use the Hadith at the beginning of this article to calculate it yourself.

What if you still miss the Salat prayer in its prescribed timings?

Praying in congregation is integral in terms of multiplied rewards and unity among the Ummah but if you still miss the prayer for any reason you can make up for it as a Qadaa prayer. Where the person offers the missed prayer later; as soon as he remembers or as soon as he can. Practicing Muslims are expected to make up for all the missed prayers, unless for a very valid reason, then, he is expected to repent.