Guide

How to Get Your Local Mosque's Prayer Times at Home

Printed timetable, Mawaqit, or a device aligned with your mosque to the minute: the ways to follow your local mosque's prayer times at home, and how to combine them.

Updated · 5 min read

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There are two main ways to have your mosque's prayer times at home: follow the timetable the mosque publishes itself, on paper, on its website or through a service such as Mawaqit, or use a device that calculates the times locally and adjust it, minute by minute, to match the mosque. The first reflects your mosque's decisions directly; the second keeps working without internet once it is set up.

Why your mosque's times may differ from an app

Your mosque has chosen a calculation method, an Asr school (standard or Hanafi) and, in the UK, a rule for the short summer nights. It may also add a few minutes of precaution. A generic app using different settings will show different times, sometimes by twenty minutes or more at Fajr and Isha in summer. Our guide on how prayer times are calculated explains each parameter.

Many families simply want to pray at the same times as their community. Here are the options.

Option 1: the mosque's own timetable

Most UK mosques publish a timetable: a printed annual or monthly sheet, a Ramadan calendar, a page on their website, sometimes a message on a community group. It is the most direct reference.

  • Strengths: exactly your mosque's times, including the jama'ah (congregation) times.
  • Limits: paper gets lost or out of date, and it does not play the adhan.

Tip: on most timetables, the "begins" column gives the start of each prayer, and the "jama'ah" or "iqamah" column the time of the congregational prayer. At home, the adhan follows the start time.

Option 2: Mawaqit, your mosque's times on your phone

Mawaqit is a service used by mosques to publish their own prayer and iqamah times. According to its app listing, it is free, has no ads, requires no subscription, and is used by thousands of mosques in more than 100 countries. The mosque manages its timetable, announcements and events online, and worshippers follow it in the app, with notifications and the adhan.

Mawaqit also offers an app for Android TV and Android boxes, linked to a mosque through its ID. According to its help centre, an internet connection is needed for the initial set-up, after which the box synchronises the mosque's data and can run offline.

  • Strengths: times set by the mosque itself, iqamah times, news from the mosque, free of charge.
  • Points to keep in mind: your mosque must be registered and keep its timetable up to date; on a phone, the usual limits of notifications and silent mode apply.

If your mosque uses Mawaqit, it is an excellent way to stay connected to its life: times, Friday announcements, Ramadan programmes.

Option 3: a device calculating locally, aligned with your mosque

Many adhan clocks and prayer displays calculate the times themselves, from your location and a method. Once aligned with your mosque, they work without internet and play the adhan for the household. Here is how to align them:

  1. Get your mosque's timetable for the current month.
  2. Ask which method and which Asr school it follows, or test the methods until you find the closest.
  3. Choose the high-latitude rule closest to the mosque's summer timetable.
  4. Adjust each prayer by a few minutes so that the times match.
  5. Check again at the start of each month, at the clock changes and before Ramadan: a fixed adjustment can drift with the seasons.
  • Strengths: works offline, adhan for the whole house, no dependence on a phone.
  • Limits: requires a few minutes of set-up and a regular check; jama'ah times are not included.

Questions to ask your mosque

A short conversation with the mosque committee or the imam often saves a lot of trial and error:

  • Which calculation method, or which published timetable, does the mosque follow?
  • Which school is used for Asr?
  • What rule is used for Fajr and Isha in summer?
  • Are precautionary minutes added to any prayer?
  • Where is the timetable published, and when is it updated?

With these answers, aligning any device takes a few minutes.

Combining the two

The options are not exclusive. Many households use a device at home for the adhan and the daily times, and the mosque's timetable or the Mawaqit app for jama'ah times, Jumu'ah and community announcements. Each does what it does best.

Jumu'ah is a good example. The khutbah time is set by the mosque and can change between winter and summer, so the mosque's own announcements remain the reference, while a device at home reminds the household of Dhuhr on other days.

When you move or change mosque

A new address often means a new mosque, and possibly a different method or Asr school. Update your location first, then repeat the alignment with the new timetable rather than keeping the old adjustments. The same applies if your mosque changes its method, which some do after consulting their community: a quick comparison over a few days is enough to spot it. Families living between two mosques sometimes simply follow the one where they pray Jumu'ah.

How Nida Home follows your mosque

Nida Home is a spiritual display that calculates prayer times directly on the device, so the times, the adhan and the display keep working without internet. To match your mosque, you can:

  • choose a method (Muslim World League, ISNA, Egypt, Umm al-Qura, UOIF) and adjust the Fajr and Isha angles;
  • choose the Shafi'i or Hanafi Asr;
  • select a high-latitude rule;
  • shift each prayer from −60 to +60 minutes, to the minute.

The adhan, chosen from several authentic voices and with a dedicated Fajr adhan, then plays for the whole household, with the volume set prayer by prayer. Settings can be changed from the screen or from a phone on the same Wi-Fi. More answers are on our FAQ.

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Frequently asked questions

How do I find my local mosque's prayer timetable?

Ask at the mosque, check its website or noticeboard, or look it up in the Mawaqit app if your mosque uses it.

Is Mawaqit free?

According to its app listing, Mawaqit is free, without ads and without a subscription.

Can I make my adhan clock match my mosque exactly?

Often, yes: choose the closest method and Asr school, then adjust each prayer by a few minutes. Check again each month, as the gap can change with the seasons.

What is the difference between start time and jama'ah time?

The start time is when the prayer time begins; the jama'ah or iqamah time is when the congregational prayer takes place at the mosque, usually a little later.