Prayer Times
Prayer Times in Egypt — All Cities
Egypt follows the convention of the Egyptian General Authority of Survey, which sets Fajr at 19.5 degrees and Isha at 17.5 degrees of solar depression. It is one of the most widely exported standards in the Muslim world, and the same convention governs several other countries covered on this site.
A standard that reaches well beyond Egypt
The Egyptian General Authority of Survey is a state surveying body, and the prayer time convention it publishes has become one of the most widely adopted in the world. It places Fajr at a solar depression of 19.5 degrees and Isha at 17.5 degrees. Both are angle-based, so unlike the fixed-interval Isha used across the Arabian Peninsula, Egyptian times drift naturally through the year as the length of twilight changes.
Egypt is therefore the reference point for a whole cluster of countries rather than a single national case. Libya, Sudan, Syria and Lebanon, all of which we cover, apply the same Egyptian convention. If you are comparing prayer times across those five countries, differences you see are the product of latitude, longitude and timezone rather than of competing calculation standards.
The daylight saving question
Egypt has changed its position on summer time repeatedly. Daylight saving was abolished in 2011, briefly reinstated, dropped again, and then reintroduced in 2023, since when it has been observed from late April to late October. This matters more for prayer times than most people expect, because when the clocks move the entire timetable moves with them.
The astronomical event is unchanged, of course. The sun rises when it rises. But the clock time printed against Fajr shifts by a full hour on the changeover weekend, and every Egyptian city on this site shifts with it. Our times are generated from each city's IANA timezone identifier, so the transition is applied automatically on the correct date rather than being something we have to remember to do. If you have an old printed timetable from a year when Egypt was not observing summer time, it will be an hour out for half the year.
From the Delta to Upper Egypt
We cover eighteen Egyptian cities, and they span a genuinely large range. Alexandria and Damietta sit on the Mediterranean coast above 31 degrees north. Aswan lies at 24.1 degrees, roughly a thousand kilometres to the south. That is a wide enough spread that a single national timetable would be misleading for anyone outside the Cairo region.
The practical effect is seasonal. Northern cities in the Delta experience a wider swing between their longest and shortest days, so the gap between summer and winter Fajr is larger there than in Upper Egypt. Aswan and Luxor, closer to the tropics, stay comparatively even throughout the year. In midsummer the difference in Isha between Alexandria and Aswan is noticeable, while in the equinox weeks the two converge.
There is an east-west component too. Hurghada and Sharm El Sheikh sit on the Red Sea well east of the Nile Valley, so the sun reaches them before it reaches Cairo or Giza, and their Maghrib falls correspondingly earlier.
Al-Azhar and religious authority
Al-Azhar in Cairo is among the oldest and most influential centres of Sunni scholarship, and its standing is part of why the Egyptian convention carries weight beyond Egypt's borders. Egypt is predominantly Shafi'i and Hanafi in practice, with Maliki communities in parts of the country.
For Asr this matters. Where the Hanafi position is followed, Asr begins when an object's shadow reaches twice its own length plus the noon shadow, roughly forty to sixty minutes later than the Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali reckoning. Our published Asr times use the majority reckoning. If your mosque follows the Hanafi position, its Asr will be later than ours, and that is a difference of school rather than an error.
Ramadan and the fasting timetable
During Ramadan the two figures most people watch are Fajr, which ends suhoor, and Maghrib, which begins iftar. Both are on every Egyptian city page, and the monthly calendar gives the full month at once, which is more practical than checking a day at a time.
Many Egyptian mosques and published almanacs announce an imsak time some minutes before the calculated Fajr as a precaution. We publish the astronomical Fajr itself and do not add that margin for you. If you prefer to stop eating at imsak, take that time from your local mosque and treat our Fajr as the outer limit.
Cities we cover
Our Egyptian coverage runs to eighteen cities: Cairo, Alexandria, Giza, Mansoura, Tanta, Aswan, Luxor, Port Said, Suez, Zagazig, Ismailia, Minya, Assiut, Hurghada, Sharm El Sheikh, Damietta, Fayoum and Sohag. Each carries its own coordinates rather than inheriting an approximation from Cairo, which is what makes the Delta and Upper Egypt figures genuinely different from one another.
Select a city below for today's five prayer times, sunrise, a countdown to the next prayer, and the full monthly calendar.
Frequently asked questions
Which calculation method does Egypt use?
The Egyptian General Authority of Survey, a state surveying body. It places Fajr at 19.5 degrees of solar depression and Isha at 17.5 degrees. Both are angle-based, so Egyptian prayer times shift gradually through the year as twilight lengthens and shortens. This is the convention applied to every Egyptian city on this site, and it is also used in Libya, Sudan, Syria and Lebanon.
Does daylight saving time affect prayer times in Egypt?
Yes. Egypt reintroduced summer time in 2023 and now observes it from late April to late October. The astronomical events do not change, but the clock time printed against each prayer moves by a full hour on the changeover weekend. Our times are generated from each city's timezone identifier, so the shift is applied automatically on the correct date. An older printed timetable from a non-observing year will be an hour out for half the year.
Why are prayer times in Alexandria different from Aswan?
The two cities are roughly a thousand kilometres apart, with Alexandria above 31 degrees north on the Mediterranean and Aswan at 24.1 degrees near the tropics. Northern cities have a wider seasonal swing, so their summer and winter times differ more sharply, while Aswan stays comparatively even year round. In midsummer the Isha difference between the two is noticeable; near the equinoxes they converge.
What is imsak and why does it differ from your Fajr time?
Imsak is a precautionary time announced by many Egyptian mosques and almanacs a few minutes before the calculated start of Fajr, giving those fasting a small margin to stop eating. We publish the astronomical Fajr itself and do not add that margin. If you prefer to observe imsak, take it from your local mosque and treat our Fajr as the outer limit of suhoor.
Why is Asr at my mosque later than the time shown here?
Almost certainly because your mosque follows the Hanafi position, under which Asr begins when an object's shadow reaches twice its own length plus the noon shadow. Our times use the reckoning shared by the Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali schools, where the shadow equals the object's length. The Hanafi time falls roughly forty to sixty minutes later. Both are established positions and neither is an error.