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Fasting Hours: How They Are Calculated and Why They Differ

June 3, 2026 Fasting & Worship 5 min read
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Related tool: Fasting Hours Calculator — find the fasting duration for your city or any world capital on any date.

How many hours will we fast today? A recurring question in Ramadan and voluntary fasting. The answer depends on the gap between Fajr and Maghrib in your city. This guide explains how it is calculated and why the duration differs.

The simple formula

Fasting duration = Maghrib time − Fajr time on the specified day and city. The fasting person stops eating at the Fajr call and breaks the fast at the Maghrib call.

Why does it differ by city and season?

  • Geographic location: the farther a city is from the equator, the larger the summer-winter gap.
  • Season: summer has longer days (longer fasting), winter shorter.
  • Calculation method: the Fajr angle differs between methods (Umm al-Qura and others), changing the duration by minutes.

Example

In a city where Fajr is 4:00 AM and Maghrib is 6:30 PM:

Fasting duration = 14 hours 30 minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Fasting duration is the difference between the Maghrib call (iftar) and the Fajr call (imsak) on a specific day and city. If Fajr is 4:00 and Maghrib is 6:30 PM, the fasting duration is about 14 hours 30 minutes.

They differ because Fajr and Maghrib times depend on geographic location (latitude and longitude). The farther a city is from the equator, the greater the variation between summer and winter in day length.

In summer the day is longer and the night shorter in the Northern Hemisphere, so Maghrib is later and Fajr earlier, increasing fasting hours. The opposite happens in winter.

Yes, slightly; each country adopts a method for the Fajr angle (such as Umm al-Qura in Saudi Arabia), and Fajr time can differ by minutes between methods, changing the fasting duration accordingly.

Use the free fasting-hours calculator: choose your city (or a world capital) and the date to see the Fajr and Maghrib times and the fasting duration precisely.

Find Your City's Fasting Hours

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