When does Isha start and when does it end?
Isha begins when the twilight has gone and lasts until Fajr, but it is best prayed before midnight. See all the times for tonight where you are.
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Guide
The time of Isha, start, best time and end.
Isha begins when the twilight after sunset has disappeared and ends when Fajr begins. It is best prayed in the first third of the night, and it should not be delayed past Islamic midnight, the halfway point between Maghrib and Fajr. The Prophet ﷺ said: "The time of Isha is until the middle of the night."1
أَقِمِ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ لِدُلُوكِ ٱلشَّمْسِ إِلَىٰ غَسَقِ ٱلَّيْلِ وَقُرْءَانَ ٱلْفَجْرِ ۖ إِنَّ قُرْءَانَ ٱلْفَجْرِ كَانَ مَشْهُودًۭا ﴿٧٨﴾
Aqimis Salaata liduloo kish shamsi ilaa ghasaqil laili wa quraanal Fajri inna quraa nal Fajri kaana mashhoodaa
Establish prayer at the decline of the sun [from its meridian] until the darkness of the night and [also] the Qur'an of dawn. Indeed, the recitation of dawn is ever witnessed.
Quran 17:78 (Surah Al-Isra), translation by Sahih International.
When does Isha start? The two Hanafi views
Isha begins when the twilight (shafaq) has gone. Abu Hanifa held that the shafaq is the white glow that stays in the sky after the red has gone (shafaq abyad), so Isha starts later. His two companions, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad, held that it is the red glow (shafaq ahmar), so Isha starts earlier, which is also the view of the other three schools. Hanafi scholars have given fatwa on each view; many, especially in South Asia, follow Abu Hanifa's for the start of Isha, because a prayer prayed after the white twilight is valid on both views.2
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i, Maliki, Hanbali
- Isha begins when the red twilight has gone.
In practice the white twilight goes when the sun is about 18 degrees below the horizon, and the red one earlier. The tool uses the seasonal twilight model of the Moonsighting Committee for both, so the gap between them changes through the year and with latitude.
When does Isha end?
| Time of night | Hanafi ruling |
|---|---|
| Start to the end of the first third | Best: delaying Isha to this point is mustahabb |
| First third to Islamic midnight | Allowed |
| Islamic midnight to Fajr | Still valid, but delaying until then without a reason is disliked (makruh) |
| Fajr begins | Isha has ended, and must be made up |
The Shafi'i school also holds that Isha is valid until Fajr, while its chosen time ends at a third of the night. In the Hanbali school, delaying it past midnight without an excuse is a sin, though it is still prayed on time until Fajr. In the Maliki school its chosen time ends at the first third.
How to work out Islamic midnight
- Take tonight's Maghrib time, for example 6:00 pm.
- Take tomorrow's Fajr time, for example 5:30 am. The night is 11 hours 30 minutes.
- Half of that is 5 hours 45 minutes. Islamic midnight is 6:00 pm + 5:45 = 11:45 pm.
- A third is 3 hours 50 minutes, so the first third ends at 9:50 pm.
Some timetables measure midnight from sunset to sunrise instead, which gives a later time. We use Maghrib to Fajr, the night as the Hanafi school and most scholars define it. The tahajjud time tool shows the same night divided into thirds for the next 30 nights.
Isha in summer at high latitudes
In places like London, Glasgow or Edmonton in June, the twilight may never fully disappear. Timetables then use a high-latitude rule, such as a seventh of the night or the angle-based rule, and the tool does the same. Follow your local masjid's timetable, and pray Isha after Maghrib has clearly ended.
Isha times by city
- Sahih Muslim 612, from Abdullah ibn Amr. Quran 17:78, translation by Sahih International.
- Al-Marghinani, al-Hidayah, Bab al-Mawaqit; Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar, Kitab al-Salah. The other madhhabs' positions are summarised from their standard manuals.
The rulings on this page are pending review by the scholars on our team.
Questions
Good to know.
When does Isha prayer start?
When the twilight after sunset has gone. On Abu Hanifa's view that is when the white twilight has gone, often well over an hour after Maghrib; on the view of his companions and the other schools it is the red twilight, earlier. The tool shows both for tonight.
When does Isha end?
When Fajr begins. But it is disliked to delay it past Islamic midnight, halfway between Maghrib and Fajr, without a reason.
Can I pray Isha at 1 am?
If Fajr has not begun, the prayer is valid. If 1 am is after Islamic midnight where you are, try not to delay that long without a reason.
Is Islamic midnight 12 am?
No. It is the halfway point between Maghrib and Fajr, which moves every night. It is often between 11 pm and 1 am.
Should I pray witr straight after Isha?
Witr's time begins after Isha. Pray it after Isha if you may not wake, or delay it until after tahajjud if you will.