Know Your Deen

Q.

Assalamu Alaikum Imam, Ramadan Mubarak. I appreciate your time answering my questions, Jazakum Allah khair. I have concern regarding prayer times on Ramadan calendar and smart phone athan apps. When it’s time to pray fajer the sky is pitch black, and for Maghrib prayer the ﺍﻟﺎﻋﺘﺮﺍﺽ ﺍﻟﺎﺣﻤﺮ is not there. I usually wait 30 min to pray, what should I do? When should I break my fast in Ramadan?

A.

Wa ‘Alaikum Salaam,

Ramadaan Mubarak to you and yours.

With regard to your tech-oriented question, as it seems to be that you’re questioning the validity of the app’s reliability for calculating salaat times, the Imam has asked the Admins to supply an appropriate response.

The apps typically have various settings that need to be adjusted to be in line with the timings in your locality. The obvious setting is for the location–but of course you’ve set your location correctly. When you dig deeper into the app, you’ll see an option to set the calculation method, the  Asr juristic method, and the higher altitude method. To get the timings perfect for your locality, adjust these three methods until they line up with time-table handed out in your masjid. (For Salt Lake City, we are advised that the Calculation Method used is: University of Islamic Sciences, Karachi Muslim World League; the Asr Juristic Method is as per your madh-hab; and the Higher Altitude Setting is probably the Angle-Based Method.)

If you do not  find these settings on your app, then you should a) get another app, and b) do as you are doing i.e., wait the 30 mins to pray, and c) break your fast when the call to adhan is made in your local masjid.

If there are any changes to be made to this answer, we will update it before Maghrib today inshaAllah.

JazakumAllah khair for your question. May you have a blessed Ramadaan.