The Prayer Times section in Al Islam is a complete offline prayer-time calculation system built for daily use, travel planning, date inspection, astronomical understanding, and Hijri synchronization. It is not only a screen that displays Fajr, Dhuhr, Asr, Maghrib, and Isha. It is a full prayer-time environment that connects location profiles, calculation methods, Asr standards, twilight definitions, high-latitude handling, time zones, Hijri dates, solar data, moon data, sky charts, upcoming Islamic dates, and advanced calendar navigation into one organized system.
The section already supports 11 globally recognized calculation methods, multiple Asr standards, high-altitude rules, Hijri date synchronization, location profiles, and fully local/offline calculation with zero server calls after setup. The updated version expands that foundation with new visual and scientific layers: a live sun curve with prayer times placed on the solar path, a twilight ladder, a solar almanac, sun and moon altitude charts, moon phase cards, Hijri almanac cards, crescent visibility forecasting, and a newly integrated Hijri/Gregorian date picker.
The purpose of this section is to make Prayer Times both simple and serious. A normal user can open it and immediately see the next prayer time. A more advanced user can inspect why each time occurs, what solar altitude defines it, which twilight band it belongs to, how the moon is moving, what Hijri date applies, and which upcoming Islamic dates are approaching. The interface remains modern, visual, and convenient, but the underlying system is deliberately deep.
Accessing Prayer Times
Prayer Times can be accessed from the Home screen by tapping a Prayer Times widget, or from the Tools area by opening the Prayer Times tool. The first-time experience guides the user through location setup, because prayer times depend on the user’s coordinates, country, time zone, calculation method, and local calendar preference.
The top of the Prayer Times screen is location-centered. The selected location is displayed clearly, such as Islamabad, Pakistan, and the user can manage location profiles, open the date picker, and access additional options from the toolbar. This keeps the section practical: the user always knows which city or coordinates are being used, and they can switch or adjust them when needed.
Location Profiles and Setup
Prayer Times is built around location profiles. A profile stores the user’s selected place, time zone, calculation configuration, and related prayer-time preferences. This is useful for users who move between places, travel, or want separate profiles for home, office, university, village, Makkah, Madinah, or another city.
When creating a profile, the user can provide location in multiple ways. The recommended method is precise location, which uses GPS and network data to detect the user’s coordinates. The user can also search by location name, city, street, landmark, or address. For advanced users, manual coordinates can be entered directly using latitude and longitude.
After the location is selected, the app displays the location details in real time. These include coordinates, country, time zone, and address where available. The profile can then be given a custom label. The app can pre-fill a location-based name, but the user can rename it to something more personal, such as Home, Office, or Travel.
The time-zone system is flexible. The app can use the system time zone, the actual coordinate-based time zone, or a custom time zone selected from the world time-zone list. The time-zone selector can show time-zone name, country flag, GMT offset, current time in that zone, and a day/night indicator. It can also be searched by country name, GMT offset, time-zone ID, or country code. This is important because prayer-time planning is often needed for travel, remote locations, or situations where the device time zone and the selected location time zone are not the same.
Profiles can be created, switched, edited, and used temporarily. A user can save multiple profiles, instantly switch between them, edit their label or calculation settings, or search a temporary location without saving it. Free users can have a limited number of saved profiles, while Premium users can keep unlimited saved profiles. Temporary searches are not treated as saved profiles, so the user can check many locations without permanently storing them.
Calculation Methods
The Prayer Times section supports 11 major calculation methods. This matters because different regions and Islamic authorities use different Fajr and Isha angles, different assumptions for Isha, and different adjustments for local geography. Prayer times are not arbitrary numbers; they are derived from solar position and interpreted through recognized regional and jurisprudential standards.
The supported methods include Muslim World League, commonly used in Europe and the USA; Egyptian General Authority of Survey, used in Egypt and parts of the Arab world; University of Islamic Sciences, Karachi, used across Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and South Asia; Umm al-Qura University, Makkah, used in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region with time-based Isha handling; Dubai / GAIAE, tailored for the UAE; Moon Sighting Committee Worldwide, which includes seasonal handling for difficult latitudes; Islamic Society of North America, used in North America; Kuwait Ministry of Awqaf; Qatar Awqaf; MUIS Singapore; and Diyanet Turkey.
Each method defines prayer times through specific solar angles or time-based rules. For example, some methods use 18° for Fajr, some use 19.5°, some use 15°, and some use a fixed Isha offset after Maghrib. The app preselects a recommended method based on the user’s location, but the user remains in control and can change the method manually.
Asr Standard, High-Latitude Rules, Rounding, and Shafaq
The app supports both major Asr standards. The Hanafi standard calculates Asr when the shadow reaches twice the object’s height, usually producing a later Asr time. The Shafi’i standard, also used by Maliki and Hanbali practice, calculates Asr when the shadow reaches one object height, usually producing an earlier Asr time. The difference can often be 15 to 45 minutes depending on location and season.
High-latitude rules are available for regions where the sun behaves unusually, especially far north or far south. In such places, the sun may not dip low enough for standard Fajr or Isha angles during some parts of the year. The app can apply rules such as no adjustment, middle of night, seventh of night, or twilight-angle handling. It can also preselect a sensible rule based on the latitude.
The rounding system controls how calculated prayer times are displayed. The user can show exact times, round to the nearest minute, or round upward. Rounding upward is a cautious default because it avoids displaying a prayer time before the calculated start moment.
The Shafaq setting controls the twilight definition used for Isha. It can follow Ahmar, the disappearance of red twilight; Abyad, the disappearance of white twilight; or a general setting. This gives users a way to align the app with the twilight interpretation they follow.
The Hijri date offset allows the Islamic date to be adjusted forward or backward. This is useful because local moon sighting and regional calendars can differ. A user can add or subtract days so that the displayed Hijri date matches their local authority.
Main Times View
The main Times view remains the practical daily prayer screen. It shows the Islamic and Gregorian dates, the selected time zone, and real-time prayer cards for the day. Each prayer card can show the prayer name, start time, progress status, and countdown. Passed prayers, current prayer windows, and upcoming prayer times are visually distinguished so the user can quickly understand the current state of the day.
The app also shows related Sunnah and night times, such as Islamic midnight and the last third of the night. These are important for users who plan Qiyam, du‘a, night worship, or want to understand the structure of the night beyond only the five daily prayers.
A detailed view can show the exact times for Fajr, Sunrise, Dhuhr, Asr, Maghrib, Isha, Midnight, and the Third of Night. The calculation method, Asr standard, and time zone remain visible as contextual information so the user knows how the displayed times were produced.
Updated Date Switching and Calendar Picker
The Prayer Times date-switching system has been upgraded through integration with the new calendar system. Previously, date navigation was more focused on Gregorian date selection. Now the date picker can work more naturally with the new Hijri/Gregorian calendar infrastructure, making it easier to inspect prayer times through either calendar perspective.
The picker supports multiple input modes. In calendar mode, the user can select a date visually from a month grid. In wheels mode, the user can scroll day, month, and year fields directly. In type mode, the user can enter the date numerically. The picker can also switch between Hijri and Gregorian selection, so the user is no longer forced to think only in Gregorian dates when searching for prayer times.
This is highly useful for Islamic planning. A user may want to check prayer times for 10 Ramadan, 27 Ramadan, 9 Dhul-Hijjah, 10 Muharram, or another Hijri date. The updated picker makes that flow much more direct. The user can choose a Hijri date, confirm it, and see the corresponding prayer times without manually converting the date elsewhere.
The same integrated picker can be reused throughout the app where date selection is needed. This keeps the experience consistent across Prayer Times, Hijri Calendar, Date Converter, and other date-aware sections.
Sun Tab
The new Sun tab explains the prayer day through the movement of the sun. This is one of the most important upgrades because prayer times are fundamentally connected to solar position. Instead of only showing time values, the app now visually shows how those values sit on the sun’s curve.
The first major visual is “The sun’s day — with your prayers on the curve.” This chart shows the sun’s altitude across the day, with prayer moments placed directly on the curve. Fajr appears before sunrise in the twilight region. Sunrise appears where the sun reaches the apparent horizon. Dhuhr appears near solar noon, when the sun reaches its highest point. Asr appears on the descending side of the curve. Maghrib appears at sunset. Isha appears later in the evening twilight region.
This gives the user an intuitive understanding of why prayer times occur when they do. Fajr and Isha are connected to twilight depression angles. Dhuhr is tied to solar noon. Asr is tied to shadow length and solar altitude. Maghrib is tied to sunset. The chart shows these relationships visually instead of leaving them abstract.
The curve also includes bands for night, astronomical twilight, nautical twilight, and civil twilight. These bands explain the sky conditions around the prayer times. The app explicitly communicates that each prayer sits where the sun’s altitude defines it. This makes the Prayer Times section more educational and transparent.
Twilight Ladder
The Sun tab also includes a Twilight ladder — depression angles, live. This is a precise visual explanation of how twilight levels relate to the horizon and prayer calculation.
The ladder shows the apparent horizon and the major twilight bands. The apparent rise/set line is shown around -0.8°, reflecting refraction-corrected sunrise and sunset. Civil twilight appears around -6°, nautical twilight around -12°, and astronomical twilight around -18°. The screenshot example shows corresponding times such as apparent rise/set around 05:05 AM / 07:21 PM, civil twilight around 04:36 AM / 07:49 PM, nautical twilight around 04:01 AM / 08:24 PM, and astronomical twilight around 03:23 AM / 09:02 PM.
The ladder also shows the live sun position as a marker, such as around -2.5°, allowing the user to see where the sun currently sits relative to the horizon and twilight bands.
This is especially valuable because Fajr and Isha are calculated using depression angles. Many users see settings like 18°, 17°, 15°, or 19.5° without understanding what those numbers mean. The twilight ladder makes those angles visible. It explains that Fajr and Isha angles in the calculation settings are depression angles on this exact ladder. It also notes that atmospheric refraction lifts the apparent horizon by about 34 arcminutes, which is why apparent sunrise and sunset use approximately -0.833° instead of a simple 0° horizon line.
This is a serious documentation-grade addition because it shows the calculation geometry directly inside the app.
Solar Almanac
The Sun tab also includes a Solar Almanac section. This turns the Prayer Times screen into a compact solar reference for the selected location and date.
The Solar Almanac can show Solar noon, such as 12:13 PM, along with the sun’s culmination altitude, such as 78.7°. Solar noon is the moment when the sun crosses the local meridian and reaches its highest altitude for that day. This is directly relevant to Dhuhr.
It can show the equation of time, such as -5.2 minutes, described as sundial versus clock. This explains the difference between apparent solar time and mean clock time. It is a technical but useful value for understanding why solar noon is not always exactly 12:00 PM.
It can show day length, such as 14h 16m, and night length, such as 9h 43m. This gives users a seasonal sense of how long the day and night are at their location.
The almanac includes solar declination, such as +22.34°, described as the sun’s latitude on the sky. This indicates how far north or south the sun is relative to the celestial equator and explains seasonal changes in day length and solar altitude.
It shows apparent sunrise and apparent sunset, such as 05:05 AM and 07:21 PM, marked as refraction-corrected. This is important because the visible sunrise and sunset are affected by atmospheric refraction.
It includes Duha begins, such as 05:33 AM, described through the sun being 4.5° above the horizon. This connects the Duha time to a specific solar altitude rather than only a clock value.
It includes Solar midnight, such as 12:13 AM, described as lower culmination. This is the opposite point of solar noon, when the sun is at its lowest below the horizon.
It can show Sun altitude now, such as -2.48°, along with direction such as 60.4° ENE. It can show the hour angle now, such as -110.15°, where 0° means the sun is on the meridian. It can show shadow ratio now, such as infinity when the sun is below the horizon, because the shadow-length formula is not meaningful when the sun has not risen.
The almanac also includes astronomical values such as right ascension, Julian day, and sidereal time. For example, it can show right ascension of the sun, a Julian day value, the Julian century, and local apparent sidereal time. These are advanced astronomical values, but they reinforce that the prayer-time system is using a real astronomy engine rather than shallow static tables.
Sky Tab
The new Sky tab expands the Prayer Times section beyond the sun alone. It shows the daily movement of both the sun and the moon, making the section feel like a complete sky-aware Islamic time system.
The main chart in the Sky tab is Today’s sky — sun & moon altitude. This chart shows the altitude of the sun and moon across the day. The sun can be shown as a golden curve and the moon as a separate dashed curve. A vertical marker can show the current time, allowing the user to see where both bodies are right now.
This chart is useful because it connects prayer times, moon phases, and sky visibility into one view. The user can see when the sun rises and sets, when it reaches its highest point, when the moon is above the horizon, and how the two paths relate over the day.
The Sky tab includes a dedicated moon card. It can show the current moon phase, such as Last Quarter, the illumination percentage, such as 37% illuminated, and the moon age, such as 23.4 days old. It can also state whether the moon is above the horizon right now.
The moon card is visual, not merely textual. It includes a rendered moon phase disc, helping the user understand the lunar state immediately. This is especially relevant in an Islamic app because the Hijri calendar is lunar.
Below the moon card, the Sky tab can show moonrise and moonset, such as Moonrise 12:01 AM and Moonset 02:02 PM. It can show the moon’s current distance from Earth, such as 372,521 km, with a light-travel equivalent such as 1.2 light-seconds. It can show the moon’s current position, such as 115.1° ESE, with altitude such as +57.5°.
The tab also shows upcoming lunar events, such as the next new moon and next full moon, with exact dates and times. For example, the next new moon may be shown as Tuesday, 14 July 2026 at 02:44 PM, and the next full moon as Wednesday, 29 July 2026 at 07:36 PM.
This makes the Sky tab useful for users who want to understand not only prayer times, but also the lunar calendar context behind Hijri dates and month transitions.
Hijri Tab Inside Prayer Times
The new Hijri tab connects Prayer Times directly with the Islamic calendar. This is important because users often open Prayer Times daily, so placing Hijri information inside the same section makes the app more useful without requiring navigation to a separate calendar screen.
The Hijri tab begins with a clear Hijri date card. It can show the current date, such as 24 Muharram 1448 AH, along with progress through the month, such as Day 24 of 29, and the month position in the year, such as month 1 of 12. A progress line shows how far the current Hijri month has advanced.
Below that, the Hijri tab shows Upcoming Islamic dates. These are presented as cards with countdowns, Hijri dates, Gregorian dates, and descriptions. For example, the tab can show White Days in 18 days, listed as 13 Safar 1448 · Mon, 27 Jul 2026, with a note that the date is subject to sighting. The description explains that the White Days are the 13th, 14th, and 15th of every Hijri month and that fasting them is like fasting the whole month.
The tab can also show occasions such as Mawlid an-Nabi ﷺ, with a countdown such as 47 days, the Hijri date 12 Rabi’ al-Awwal 1448, and the Gregorian date Tuesday, 25 August 2026. The description can explain that 12 Rabi’ al-Awwal is traditionally associated with the birth date of the Prophet ﷺ.
The Hijri tab continues showing future dates, such as White Days in later months, Ramadan-related dates, and major occasions like the Battle of Badr. For example, it can show Battle of Badr in 230 days, listed as 17 Ramadan 1448 · Wed, 24 Feb 2027, with a short description identifying it as the decisive first victory and al-Furqan day.
This turns the Prayer Times section into a daily Islamic awareness panel. The user does not only see what prayer is next; they also see where they are in the Hijri month and which important dates are approaching.
Crescent Sighting Forecast
The Hijri tab also includes a Next crescent — sighting forecast section. This is an advanced lunar-calendar feature that helps users understand the visibility conditions for the next crescent.
The forecast is based on the Yallop test, specifically referencing the q-test and visibility grading. It evaluates the possibility of naked-eye crescent visibility at the user’s own coordinates. This is important because Hijri month starts can depend on local sighting authority, but visibility prediction can still help users understand what is astronomically likely.
The forecast can show the first evening after conjunction. In the screenshot example, the first evening is shown as Tuesday, 14 July 2026, with a grade F, marked as Impossible — below the Danjon limit. The card includes technical values such as best time, moon age, lag, ARCV, ARCL, crescent width, and q value. For example, it can show best time 07:27 PM, moon age 4.7 h, lag 17 min, ARCV 2.8°, ARCL 4.1°, width 0.04′, and q -0.877.
The second evening can show a better visibility grade. In the example, Wednesday, 15 July 2026 is graded A, described as Easily visible to the naked eye. It can show values such as best time 07:46 PM, moon age 29.0 h, lag 61 min, ARCV 10.9°, ARCL 16.9°, width 0.71′, and q +0.325.
The section can also show the conjunction time, such as Tuesday, 14 July 2026, 02:44 PM, and explain that official month starts follow the user’s local sighting authority. This is a careful and responsible design: the app provides scientific visibility forecasting while still acknowledging that official Hijri month decisions may depend on local religious authority.
Almanac Cards and Display Control
The updated Prayer Times section includes a richer set of almanac cards, but it also gives users control over what they see. From the additional options menu, users can access almanac/card settings and disable cards they do not want.
This is important because not every user wants the same density of information. Some users may only want standard prayer times and a clean daily view. Others may want the full solar almanac, moon data, sky chart, Hijri dates, crescent forecast, and twilight ladder. The app supports both workflows by making advanced cards available but not forcing every user to keep every card visible.
This is part of the broader Al Islam design approach: the app can be extremely comprehensive without becoming inconvenient. The advanced systems are there, but the user can choose what belongs in their personal interface.
Offline and Privacy-Oriented Operation
The Prayer Times section is designed to work offline after location setup. Prayer calculations, astronomical data, date conversions, and daily prayer-time generation are handled locally. The existing documentation emphasizes that calculations are performed on-device, without requiring internet access or server calls, and that location data does not need to leave the device for daily calculation.
This is especially important for an Islamic utility app. Users may rely on Prayer Times every day, including while traveling, in weak-network areas, or in places where privacy matters. Local calculation makes the feature faster, more reliable, and more respectful of user data.
Overall Design Philosophy
The updated Prayer Times section should be understood as a complete Islamic time system. It still performs the essential task: showing accurate prayer times for the user’s selected location. But it now goes much further by explaining the astronomical structure behind those times.
The Times view answers the practical question: What prayer is next, and when does it start? The Sun view answers the scientific question: Where is the sun, and how do prayer times sit on the solar curve? The Sky view answers the broader celestial question: Where are the sun and moon today, and what is the current lunar state? The Hijri view answers the calendar question: What Islamic date is it, what is coming next, and what does the next crescent visibility look like?
This makes the section modern, useful, educational, and deeply integrated. It gives casual users a clean prayer-time screen, while giving advanced users a real almanac with solar noon, twilight bands, moon phase, crescent visibility, day length, sidereal time, Julian day, and Hijri event forecasting.