How are prayer timescalculated?

Türkiye's Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) determines prayer times using an astronomical method. For Fajr (fecr-i sadık / imsak), the moment when the sun is approximately 18° below the horizon is taken as the start; for Isha, approximately 17° below the horizon. Dhuhr begins when the sun has just passed the meridian (its highest point in the sky), and Maghrib begins at the moment of sunset. A short ihtiyat (precaution) margin specific to each city is added to the calculated times.

Yes — they mark the same moment. Imsak is the start of the Fajr prayer and also the moment when eating and drinking must stop while fasting. The Fajr prayer begins at imsak and remains valid until sunrise; after sunrise, praying is makrūh for roughly 40–50 minutes (during the karāhah / disliked time) until the sun has fully risen.

False dawn is a vertical column of light that briefly appears on the horizon and then disappears; the prayer time has not yet entered. True dawn is the horizontal, gradually spreading brightness along the horizon. The Fajr prayer time — i.e., imsak — begins at true dawn. Diyanet's official calendar is calculated on the basis of true dawn.

No. Sunrise (ishrāq) is not a separate prayer time; it is the moment when the Fajr prayer window ends. From the start of sunrise until the sun has risen about a spear's length above the horizon (roughly 40–50 minutes), it is karāhah time — voluntary prayers should not be performed in this window.

Because prayer times are calculated from the sun's position in the sky, every city at a different latitude and longitude sees them at different minutes. Türkiye stretches widely from east to west, so the gap between Istanbul and Iğdır can reach roughly 50–60 minutes. For that reason, accurate prayer times require selecting the correct city or allowing the app to read your location.

Because prayer times depend on the sun's position, the country's time-zone policy (DST or no DST) does not change the astronomical moment of each prayer — only its displayed clock time. Since 2016, Türkiye has stayed on UTC+3 year-round and no longer applies seasonal time changes.

Ihtiyat is a short safety margin that Diyanet adds to the astronomically calculated times to account for atmospheric and environmental uncertainty. It is usually a few minutes and is set separately for each prayer. Its purpose is to eliminate the risk of starting the prayer before the time has fully entered.

Official prayer times in Türkiye are prepared and published by the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı), under the Office of the President. Diyanet's official website (namazvakitleri.diyanet.gov.tr) provides daily, monthly and yearly schedules for every province and district free of charge.

Hatırla İslam calculates prayer times using the same method as Diyanet, based on your device's location or the city you choose. After the first load, times are cached, so the app can display correct times even when offline.

The time between imsak (Fajr) and sunrise — i.e., the length of the morning prayer window — varies by season and city. In summer it is roughly 80–90 minutes; in winter, 75–85 minutes. So once imsak enters, you have about 1 hour 20 minutes on average to pray Fajr. Once that window closes, the sun has risen and the Fajr time has expired.

The gap between Maghrib (sunset) and Isha is the time it takes for the lingering twilight to disappear from the horizon. In Türkiye this varies between roughly 70 and 100 minutes through the year; in summer it stretches to 90–100 minutes, in winter it shortens to 70–80 minutes. Once Isha enters, its window continues until imsak.

Asr begins when the sun has passed its zenith (zawāl) and the shadow of an object reaches a defined ratio of its height. According to the Hanafi school, Asr starts when the shadow equals twice the object's own length; in the Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali schools, it starts when the shadow equals one length. Diyanet's official calendar follows the Hanafi position, so Asr appears slightly later than in calendars based on the other schools.

Isha begins at the Isha athan and continues until imsak (the Fajr athan). So Isha may be prayed up until dawn. However, the Sunnah is to pray it without long delay, in the first third of the night. The Witr prayer is performed either with Isha or in the latter half of the night up until the time of tahajjud.

In practice yes, but technically there is a tiny difference. The athan is called to announce that the prayer time has entered — so the athan marks the beginning of that prayer. Because there may be a few seconds of delay between mosques, by the time you hear the athan the time has already entered. For the most precise figure, refer to Diyanet's official calendar or a trustworthy app.

There are two reasons. First, calculation parameters: the Muslim World League uses 18° for Fajr and 17° for Isha; the Egyptian General Authority of Survey uses 19.5°/17.5°; Diyanet uses 18°/17°. Second, ihtiyat: Diyanet adds a few minutes of precaution to each time, while most international sources do not. As a result, Diyanet times typically differ from others by 1–3 minutes.

Yes. Instead of granting location access, you can pick your city manually. Most apps (including Hatırla İslam) list all 81 Turkish provinces; times are then computed from the city centre's coordinates. There can be a 1–2 minute difference between the centre and outlying districts; for full precision, location access is preferable.

No. A prayer performed before its time has entered is invalid and must be repeated after the time enters. "Time" is one of the external conditions of salah, and without it even the intention is invalid. When in doubt, refer to Diyanet's official calendar and start a few minutes after the listed time as a precaution.

The Maghrib prayer begins at the moment the sun sets and ends when the twilight on the horizon completely disappears — i.e., when Isha enters. In Türkiye this is roughly 70–100 minutes through the year. The Sunnah is to pray Maghrib as soon as its time enters; delaying it is disliked.

They mark the same moment. Sahur is the pre-dawn meal eaten before imsak; there is no separate "sahur time." Sahur can be eaten at any point in the night up until imsak. Once imsak enters, food and drink must stop and the Fajr prayer time begins. During Ramadan, finishing sahur 5–10 minutes before imsak is a widespread precautionary practice.