Prayer Times in Canton, United States

Canton prayer times explained

Praying in Canton means facing a point roughly 11,988 kilometres off, around the curve of the world. Over that distance the shortest path curves noticeably, which is why the qibla here points north-east (49°) rather than the direction a flat map would suggest.

Method and madhab

The underlying method is Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah. Methods differ mainly over Fajr and Isha, because each authority settles on a slightly different angle of the sun below the horizon — a few minutes either way is normal. Asr here follows the Hanafi reckoning, which places it noticeably later in the afternoon than the other schools would. Where your local mosque differs, follow the mosque — that is the timetable the congregation keeps.

From Fajr to Isha

The day's first prayer, Fajr, falls at 5:50 am. You have until 7:15 am, when the sun comes up. Midday brings Dhuhr at 12:44 pm; Asr comes round at 4:34 pm. The sun goes down at Maghrib, 6:12 pm, and the day ends with Isha at 7:42 pm. That gives Canton roughly 10 hours and 57 minutes of daylight today.

A quirk of the timezone

Solar noon in Canton falls about 44 minutes after twelve o'clock. Hence Dhuhr at 12:44 pm, with the rest of the afternoon following along behind it. Nothing is wrong with the calculation; timezones are political lines, and the sun does not consult them.

Season by season in Canton

Across the year the Canton timetable shifts by an hour or two at each end — long summer evenings push Isha back, short winter days crowd Dhuhr, Asr and Maghrib together.

Ramadan timings

Suhoor closes at 5:50 am in Canton, with iftar at 6:12 pm. Roughly 12 hours and 22 minutes, going by today's figures. Scroll to the month view to see how the length changes as Ramadan progresses.

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