Doha, Qatar
How We Calculate Doha Prayer Times — Methodology
A transparent breakdown of the calculation method, data source, and conventions behind every time on this site.
We use Qatar's official calculation method
This site uses the Qatar method (Aladhan method 10, Umm al-Qura based), the method officially used within Qatar. Many international prayer sites default to the ISNA method (calibrated for North America) or the Muslim World League method (calibrated for Europe and the wider Muslim world). Neither is tuned for Qatar's exact latitude and government convention, so their times for Doha can drift by several minutes from the official local calculation, particularly for Fajr and Isha.
Calculation inputs
Fajr and Isha are calculated from a solar depression angle: the moment the sun is a set number of degrees below the horizon. Doha uses an 18 degree angle for Fajr and a fixed 90-minute offset after Maghrib for Isha, both defined by Qatar's official method rather than a second twilight-angle calculation. Dhuhr is solar noon plus a short safety margin; Asr uses the standard shadow-length convention followed by the majority of schools of thought.
Prayer time, azan, and iqamah are three different things
A calculated prayer time, the azan, and the mosque iqamah are three distinct moments. The prayer time shown on this site is the astronomical moment a prayer's window opens. The azan is the vocal call to prayer, made at or close to that calculated moment. The iqamah is the second, shorter call given inside the mosque immediately before the congregational prayer starts, typically 10 to 25 minutes after the azan.
This site publishes calculated prayer times, matching the azan schedule used across Qatar. Individual mosques set their own iqamah delay, so congregational start times can vary slightly between mosques even though the underlying prayer time is identical.
Why times shift every day
Prayer times shift daily because they are tied to the sun's real position, not a fixed clock schedule. Earth's 23.4 degree axial tilt and its elliptical orbit change sunrise, solar noon, and sunset by 1 to 3 minutes most days. Over a full year this produces the familiar pattern of Fajr moving from about 3:14 AM in mid-June to about 5:00 AM in early January in Doha, with Maghrib moving in the opposite direction.
Accuracy and corrections
Times are accurate to the minute for the Qatar method as published by the Aladhan API. Server-side requests are cached (see /includes/cache.php) so the site stays fast without hammering the upstream API, and cached data is refreshed automatically as it expires. If you notice a time that looks wrong, note the exact date and prayer name and reach us through the contact page. We check the underlying API response and cache before publishing any correction.
Religious content review
Reviewed for accuracy: Not yet reviewed. Hadith citations and fiqh statements referenced on this site (rak'ah counts, Jumu'ah timing, and similar) are pending verification by a qualified reviewer against primary sources.
Prayer time calculations above are separate from this and are machine-verified against the Aladhan API on every request. This note covers only the religious text (hadith citations, fiqh descriptions) that appears alongside those times.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Qatar method (Aladhan method 10, Umm al-Qura based) is the calculation officially used within Qatar, tuned for the Gulf region's latitude. ISNA and MWL are calibrated for North America and Europe respectively and can differ from Qatar's official times by several minutes, especially for Fajr and Isha.
All prayer times come from the Aladhan API (api.aladhan.com), a free, widely used astronomical calculation service. Requests run server-side only, are cached in a local file cache, and are never called directly from a visitor's browser.
Prayer times are tied to the sun's position, which shifts daily with Earth's orbit and axial tilt. Fajr and Isha depend on twilight angle, Dhuhr on solar noon, Asr on shadow length, and Maghrib on sunset, so each moves by 1 to 3 minutes most days across the year.
The prayer time is the calculated astronomical moment a prayer window opens. The azan is the call to prayer announced at or near that moment. The iqamah is the second call inside the mosque, typically 10 to 25 minutes later, that starts the congregational prayer itself. This site shows calculated prayer times, not individual mosque iqamah schedules.
Times are accurate to the minute for the Qatar method as published by the Aladhan API, matching Qatar's official calculation approach. Minor differences of a minute or two can occur between calculation services due to rounding or elevation assumptions. For mosque-specific iqamah timing, contact the mosque directly.
Contact us through the corrections channel described on this page with the specific date, prayer, and the time you observed. We review the underlying Aladhan API response and our cache before publishing a fix. Reports with a specific date and prayer name are resolved fastest.