Tahajjud Calculator

What is Tahajjud?

Tahajjud is the voluntary night prayer — extra prayer a Muslim offers after the Isha prayer and before Fajr, in the quiet part of the night. The word comes from a root meaning to stay awake at night or to leave one's sleep. Traditionally it is prayed after waking from sleep, which is why it is tied so closely to the last part of the night.

It is not an obligatory prayer, and there is no fixed number of rak'ahs. Two rak'ahs prayed with a present heart count. What makes Tahajjud special is the time it is prayed in — above all, the last third of the night.

What is the last third of the night?

The Islamic night runs from Maghrib (sunset) to Fajr (dawn) — not from midnight to midnight. Split that night into three equal parts and the final part is the last third of the night. Because Maghrib and Fajr move with the seasons and with your location, the last third moves too: it is not simply "after 2 AM", and on a long winter night it can start before 1 AM while on a short summer night it may not start until nearly 3 AM.

This is the time described in the well-known hadith:

The Prophet ﷺ said: "Our Lord descends every night to the lowest heaven when the last third of the night remains, and says: Who will call upon Me, that I may answer him? Who will ask of Me, that I may give him? Who will seek My forgiveness, that I may forgive him?" (Sahih al-Bukhari 1145; Sahih Muslim 758)

That promise is why so many people set an alarm for a time most of the world sleeps through — and why getting the time right matters. A rough guess can easily miss the window by an hour.

How the last third of the night is calculated

The calculation is simple, and you can check any result by hand:

Step 1 — Find the length of the night. Take the time from today's Maghrib to tomorrow's Fajr. That span is the whole night.

Step 2 — Divide it by three. A third of the night is the night length divided by three.

Step 3 — Count forward two thirds from Maghrib. Where the second third ends, the last third begins. It ends at Fajr.

Islamic midnight comes from the same numbers: it is the halfway point of the night — Maghrib plus half the night length. It is usually not 12:00 AM, and on many nights it is not close.

Isha is shown in the timeline because Tahajjud is prayed after Isha — but Isha plays no part in the thirds calculation. The whole calculation hangs on two times only: Maghrib and Fajr.

A worked example

Say tonight's Maghrib is 6:12 PM and tomorrow's Fajr is 5:24 AM.

Step 1: From 6:12 PM to 5:24 AM is 11 hours 12 minutes — that is the night.
Step 2: 11 hours 12 minutes ÷ 3 = 3 hours 44 minutes per third.
Step 3: Two thirds after Maghrib is 6:12 PM + 7 hours 28 minutes = 1:40 AM. The last third runs from 1:40 AM to 5:24 AM (Fajr).
Islamic midnight: 6:12 PM + half the night (5 hours 36 minutes) = 11:48 PM.

So on this night, setting an alarm for 1:40 AM catches the entire last third — and even waking at 4:54 AM still leaves half an hour of it before Fajr. The calculator at the top of this page does this arithmetic for your city, tonight, in about a second.

How to pray Tahajjud — the short version

1. Sleep first, if you can. Tahajjud in its classic form is prayed after waking from sleep. (If you cannot sleep first, see the common question in our guide — scholars have addressed it directly.)
2. Make wudu when you wake, and pray as soon as you are ready — the window is open and Fajr is the deadline.
3. Pray in pairs. Tahajjud is prayed two rak'ahs at a time. Pray two, or four, or more — there is no set number, and two sincere rak'ahs are better than a long night prayed in a rush.
4. Recite what you know. Longer recitation is beloved in the night prayer, but pray from what you have memorised with attention rather than struggling through what you have not.
5. Make dua and seek forgiveness. This is the heart of the last third — ask for what you need, for yourself and for others, and ask Allah's forgiveness.
6. Finish with Witr if you have not already prayed it after Isha. If you already prayed Witr, do not repeat it — one Witr per night.
7. Stop at Fajr. When Fajr begins, the Tahajjud window has closed.

That is the whole shape of it. Our full guide, How to Pray Tahajjud, walks through each step slowly, including the intention, what to recite, and the duas of the last third.

Why pray it? The benefits of Tahajjud

Allah commanded the Prophet ﷺ to stand in prayer for part of the night and promised him a praised station for it (Quran 17:79). The Quran describes the people of Paradise as those who "forsake their beds" in the night to call on their Lord in fear and hope (32:16), and who "in the hours before dawn seek forgiveness" (51:18). Night prayer is called "stronger in impression and more proper in speech" than prayer in the noise of the day (73:6).

In practice, people who keep Tahajjud — even two rak'ahs, even a few nights a week — point to the same things: a dua made in a quiet house with nobody watching; forgiveness asked for at the hour the hadith singles out; and a steadiness that carries into the day. It is a voluntary prayer, so it grows at your pace. Start with one night a week if that is what you can hold.

Why your time may differ from your mosque's

Two honest reasons. First, calculation methods differ: organisations set Fajr and Isha by different sun angles (the Muslim World League uses 18°, ISNA uses 15°, Umm al-Qura follows the Makkah calendar), so the same city can legitimately have Fajr times ten or twenty minutes apart. Pick the method your community uses in the tool above. Second, many mosques adjust — some add a few precautionary minutes, some follow a national authority's printed timetable rather than a daily calculation.

How accurate are the times themselves? They are computed in your browser using the same standard astronomical formulas the established prayer-time apps rely on — the sun's position for your exact coordinates and date, with the Fajr angle of the method you select. Before launch, we verified this calculator's output city by city against published timetable values, and it matched within a minute. Treat the results as careful estimates — every result carries a ±1 minute note — and for congregation times, your mosque's timetable is the authority.

Our position is simple and it is printed under the calculator: use this tool for planning, and if your local mosque's time differs, follow your mosque.

Frequently asked questions

What time is Tahajjud tonight?

It depends on your city's Maghrib and Fajr, because the last third is counted from those two times — not from midnight. Enter your city in the calculator above and it will give you tonight's exact start time, or enter your mosque's Maghrib and Fajr times in the manual tab.

What is the last third of the night?

It is the final third of the Islamic night — the period from Maghrib to Fajr divided into three equal parts. If the night is 11 hours long, each third is about 3 hours 40 minutes, and the last third is the final stretch before Fajr begins.

How is the last third of the night calculated?

Take the length of the night (Maghrib to the next Fajr), divide it by three, and count two of those thirds forward from Maghrib. Equivalently: the last third begins one third before Fajr. Our methodology page shows the full working and the sources behind it.

Can I pray Tahajjud before the last third?

Yes. Tahajjud may be prayed at any time after Isha and before Fajr. The last third is the most recommended time — the time of the hadith quoted above — but prayer earlier in the night is valid and rewarded. If you fear you will not wake up, praying after Isha is better than missing the night entirely.

What is Islamic midnight?

Islamic midnight is the halfway point of the night — halfway between Maghrib and Fajr. It is not 12:00 AM: on a night running from 6:12 PM to 5:24 AM, Islamic midnight falls at 11:48 PM. It matters because many scholars take it as the end of the preferred time for Isha. Our Islamic midnight calculator works it out for any city.

How many rak'ahs should I pray for Tahajjud?

There is no fixed number. Tahajjud is prayed in pairs of two rak'ahs; the Prophet ﷺ most often prayed eight rak'ahs of night prayer followed by Witr, but two rak'ahs is a valid and meaningful Tahajjud. Pray what you can sustain, and increase gradually if you wish.

Which calculation method should I choose?

Choose the method your local mosques and community follow. As a guide: Muslim World League is common across Europe and much of the world, ISNA in the United States and Canada, Umm al-Qura in Saudi Arabia, and the Karachi method across Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India. If your mosque publishes its own timetable, the manual tab — using their exact Maghrib and Fajr — is the most faithful option.

Why does my mosque show a different Fajr time?

Because methods use different sun angles for dawn, and because some mosques add precautionary minutes or follow a national timetable rather than a nightly calculation. A difference of 10–20 minutes between sources is normal. Follow your mosque for congregation times; use this calculator for planning your own night.

Can I pray Tahajjud without sleeping first?

This is one of the most asked questions about the night prayer. The classic description of Tahajjud involves waking after sleep, and scholars discuss whether prayer after Isha without sleeping carries the same name and reward. We cover both views fairly in our dedicated guide — the short version is that night prayer after Isha is valid worship either way.

Is this calculator free?

Yes — completely free, with no signup and no limits. The calculation happens entirely in your own browser: your location and your times are never sent to a server or stored anywhere. Enter a city or your own times as often as you like.

Related tools and guides

One hub for the whole night prayer — each page below does one job: