بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ

Available Methods

The AlAdhan App and API both now support the following calculation methods:

If you understand how these work and want to see some detail, just see https://api.aladhan.com/v1/methods. Have some kind of JSON formatter plugin installed on your browser to view this.

What really is a Method?

The mathematical side of how the calculation should work is generally agreed upon in the Islamic world. Then again, this is an assumption I am making based on the number of countries that use the angle based calculation (and please note that I am not religiously or formally qualified and am providing this information with absolute humility in the hope that it may be useful). However, based on location, government preferences, and other 'factors', there are differences in the methods that produce, sometimes, a substantial variation in timings. If the mathematical side interests you, have a look at this excellent explanation: http://praytimes.org/wiki/Prayer_Times_Calculation.

A calculation method is typically made up of the following:

The AlAdhan API has default values for all 3, and most methods only specifically specify Fajr and Isha.

Most countries adhere to one of the above methods, and they then tune the timings further, by adding a few minutes here and there, based on criteria that may seem completely arbitrary. So, even if you use the Gulf Region method and compare the timings to Dubai's IACAD or the UAE's Awqaf, you will see a couple of minutes differing. Usually this difference can be anywhere from 1 to 5 minutes.

How to Use the Methods

You should probably use the method associated with the issuing authority closest to where you are based. This is because they have probably computed the angles, etc. based on their location and convention.

However, at all times, you should really be using common sense to do what makes most sense and feels right. After all, you have to offer the prayers, not the authority that came up with the method.

How to Tune and Tweak Method Timings via the API

Let's walk through an example of tuning the timings. We'll go with the GULF REGION method. Here are its parameters:

Using this method, if we compute timings for the 9th of March, 2015 (https://api.aladhan.com/timingsByAddress/09-03-2015?address=Dubai,UAE&method=8), we get:

{ Fajr: "05:12", Sunrise: "06:35", Dhuhr: "12:30", Asr: "15:52", Sunset: "18:25", Maghrib: "18:25", Isha: "19:55", Imsak: "05:02", Midnight: "00:30" }

We can further tune the timings by adding the tune parameter, which accepts comma separated values (denoting addition / substraction in minutes) in the following order:

Imsak,Fajr,Sunrise,Dhuhr,Asr,Maghrib,Sunset,Isha,Midnight

So, if we now call

https://api.aladhan.com/timingsByAddress/09-03-2015?address=Dubai,UAE&method=8&tune=2,3,4,5,2,3,4,5,-3

our result is:

{ Fajr: "05:15", Sunrise: "06:39", Dhuhr: "12:35", Asr: "15:54", Sunset: "18:29", Maghrib: "18:28", Isha: "20:00", Imsak: "05:04", Midnight: "00:27" }

Please NOTE that tuning one prayer will not change another. So adding 3 mins to Maghrib will NOT automatically add 3 to Isha.

Customizing to create your own Method via the API

If you're not happy with the angle defintions of any of the other methods, you can use the API to create your own. To do this, you can use any timings related endpoint, like timings, timingsByAddress, timingsByCity, calendar, calendarByAddress, etc. For the method, pass 99 - this means you'll be passing your own method parameters in the 'methodSettings' parameter. The methodSettings parameter accepts comma separated values in the following order:

FajrAngle,MaghribAngleOrMinsAfterSunset,IshaAngleOrMinsAfterMaghrib

Specify null for anyting you don't want to specify, or leave it empty. So, a custom method calculation with Fajr at 18.5 degrees and Isha at 17.5 degrees would look like:

https://api.aladhan.com/timingsByAddress?address=London, UK&method=99&methodSettings=18.5,null,17.5

You can further tune your custom method with the tune parameter, as above. Here's an example:

https://api.aladhan.com/timingsByAddress?address=London, UK&method=99&methodSettings=18.5,null,17.5&tune=1,2,3,4,5

Upcoming Holy Day: Lailat-ul-Qadr on 31 March 2024