In Islam, Muslims are to perform 5 daily prayers. It is one of the fundamental pillars of Islam and a specific time is allocated for the performing of each prayer. In this article we are going to briefly describe these prayer times and how they can be calculated mathematically.

DEFINITIONS
There are nine points of time in a day that helps us to determine accurately the exact time at which each prayer is to be performed and also for fasting. We are going to list each point of time and give a brief explanation of each time period.
1. Imsak. This is the period slightly before Fajr (dawn). It marks the commencement of fasting in a day at which the eating of Sahur (meal before fasting) should stop.
2. Fajr. Also known as dawn, it is the time at which the sky begins to move from darkness in to light.
3. Sunrise. This is the time at which the sun gradually starts to appear above the horizon
4. Dhuhr. This the time at which he sun begins to decline after rising to its highest point in the sky.
5. Asr. The time when the length of any object’s shadow reaches a factor (usually 1 or 2) of the length of the object itself plus the length of that object’s shadow at noon.
6. Sunset. At this point the sun disappears below the horizon
7. Maghrib. This the time right after sunset.
8. Isha. The time at which total darkness falls and there is not a trace of scattered light in the sky.
9. Midnight. The mean time from sunset to sunrise (or from Maghrib to Fajr, in some schools of thought).