Tahajjud Wake-Up Planner
Work backwards from Fajr. Tell the planner how long you want to pray, and it tells you exactly when to set tonight's alarm.
Plan tonight's wake-up time
Times are calculated for planning. If your local mosque or a trusted local timetable gives a different time, follow your local mosque.
How the planner works
Most people plan Tahajjud forwards — "the last third starts at 1:40, so…" — and then guess an alarm. This planner works the other way, from the one fixed point of the night: Fajr. Subtract how long you want to pray, subtract a few honest minutes to wake up, splash water on your face and make wudu, and what remains is your alarm time: alarm = Fajr − prayer length − freshen-up time.
If that alarm lands inside the last third, the planner says so. If your chosen prayer is long enough that the alarm falls before the last third begins, it shows you both plans side by side — yours, and the full last-third plan — so the choice is yours with open eyes. It also shows your sleep window: if you sleep after Isha, how much sleep the alarm actually leaves you. The same engine drives our tahajjud calculator; this page exists because "what time to wake up for tahajjud" is its own question, with its own answer.
Short prayer or long prayer?
Be honest with the planner and it will be kind to you. A focused fifteen minutes inside the last third — two rak'ahs, a real dua — is worth far more than an ambitious ninety-minute plan you snooze through. Most lasting Tahajjud habits start small and grow. Pick the length you can repeat tomorrow night, not the length that impresses you tonight. Our guide on how to wake up for Tahajjud covers the rest of the habit: sleep timing, alarms, and the first five minutes.
Worked example
Take the example night used across this site: Fajr at 5:24 AM, last third beginning at 1:40 AM. You want 30 minutes of prayer and 10 minutes to freshen up. Alarm = 5:24 − 0:30 − 0:10 = 4:44 AM — comfortably inside the last third, with your prayer done before Fajr. The full last-third plan on the same night is the other extreme: alarm at 1:40 AM, the whole third ahead of you, and a much shorter night's sleep. Both are good nights. Only one of them is repeatable on a work night — the planner exists so you can see the trade clearly.
Frequently asked questions
What time should I wake up for Tahajjud?
Work backwards from Fajr: subtract how long you want to pray and a few minutes to freshen up. For a 5:24 AM Fajr and a 30-minute prayer, waking at about 4:44 AM is enough. To catch the entire last third, wake when it begins — the planner shows both times.
Is a short Tahajjud worth waking for?
Yes. Two rak'ahs and a sincere dua inside the last third is real Tahajjud — there is no minimum length for the prayer to count. Most people who stick with Tahajjud long-term started with fifteen minutes. Length can grow later; the habit of waking is the hard part, and it comes first.
Should I wake for the start of the last third or just before Fajr?
Both are inside the blessed window. Waking at the start gives you the whole third — unhurried prayer, longer dua. Waking 30–45 minutes before Fajr protects your sleep and still lands you in the last third on most nights. Choose the version you can repeat tomorrow; consistency beats intensity here.