Why prayer times change every day

The five daily prayers

Muslims pray five times a day. Each prayer has its own time window, set by the position of the sun. The Quran says, in meaning: “Prayer is prescribed for the believers at fixed times.” (Surah 4, verse 103)

• Fajr (Turkish: Sabah): at dawn, before sunrise
• Dhuhr (Öğle): shortly after the sun has passed its highest point
• Asr (İkindi): in the afternoon, when shadows grow noticeably longer
• Maghrib (Akşam): right after sunset
• Isha (Yatsı): when it has become dark after dusk

Summer and winter in Frankfurt

As the days grow longer and shorter over the year, the prayer times shift too – and by a lot. According to the Diyanet calendar for Frankfurt, in 2027 the time for the dawn prayer begins as early as 03:42 in early June, but only at 06:25 at the end of December. The night prayer begins at 23:03 in early July, but already at 18:09 in early December. The sunset prayer moves between 16:30 in December and 21:46 in July.

On top of that comes the clock change: when switching between summer and winter time, all times jump by an extra hour.

Where our times come from

The times on our website come from the official prayer calendar of Diyanet (Presidency of Religious Affairs) for Frankfurt am Main. Our website fetches it automatically every night, so the home page always shows how long it is until the next prayer.