Prayer times

  • Published
  • By Mehmet Birbiri
  • Host Nation Adviser
INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey --  Question: I have been hearing the "call to prayer at odd hours of the day, like 4:30 a.m. and 10 p.m., why those times? What is the frequency and are there times in which it is more likely to be heard? 

Response: According to Islam, Moslems should pray five times a day; morning, noon, after noon, evening and night prayers. The time of the prayers is announced to the believers by the muezzin, caller to prayer, from the minarets, towers of mosque, right before the prayer. 

The times of prayer are determined according to the local times of sun rise and sun set and the time of the year. Prayer times are also printed in almost every paper for every city. For instance the prayer times for Adana for Monday, June 27 were 5:14 a.m., 12:49 p.m., 4:38 p.m., 8:11 p.m. and 9:49 p.m. Of course, in winter, the morning prayer will be later and the evening and night prayers will be earlier. 

Again, depending on the location, eastwest- north-south, those times vary. For instance, while the morning prayer is at 5:14 a.m. in Adana, it is at 5:27 a.m. in Istanbul for the same day and 4:52 a.m. in Diyarbakir. The night prayer is 9:49 p.m. in Adana, 10:41 p.m. in Istanbul and 9:35 p.m. in Diyarbakir.