Prayer Times in Boston, United States

Boston prayer times explained

Every time on this page traces back to one pair of numbers: 42.32° N, 71.09° W, the position of Boston itself. The difference between one town and the next is only minutes, but those minutes are the whole of Fajr and Maghrib.

The direction of prayer

Turn east-north-east, about 60°, for the qibla. Makkah is around 10,006 kilometres (6,218 miles) away in a straight line. Worth remembering that a phone compass points to magnetic north, which can sit several degrees off true north depending on where you are.

Through the year

Summer and winter look like different timetables entirely in Boston. The times can shift by several hours between the two ends of the year.

Why Dhuhr lands where it does

Solar noon in Boston falls about 28 minutes after twelve o'clock. Hence Dhuhr at 12:28 pm, with the rest of the afternoon following along behind it. This catches people out regularly, but prayer follows the sun, and the clock is only the label we put on it.

The calculation behind them

These times follow Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah. The disagreement between methods lives almost entirely in Fajr and Isha, where the sun is below the horizon and the chosen angle decides the time. For Asr this page uses the Hanafi position — later in the day than the majority view. If the mosque down the road announces something a few minutes different, pray with the mosque.

A walk through today's times

Everything begins with Fajr, 5:37 am today. By 7:14 am the sun is up and Fajr's time has passed. Dhuhr follows at 12:28 pm once the sun has tipped past its highest point, and Asr at 4:00 pm. Maghrib is prayed at 5:42 pm as the light goes, then Isha at 7:12 pm. Sunrise to sunset, today runs about 10 hours and 28 minutes.

If you are fasting

Stop eating by 5:37 am; break the fast at 5:42 pm. That is about 12 hours and 5 minutes on today's times. The monthly table further down shows the window widening or narrowing day by day, which helps when planning meals a week ahead.

Questions people ask

This page rebuilds itself daily for Boston — the times are always the current ones.