When Should I Pray Maghrib?

Question

Is my Maghrib valid if I finished praying around 8:45 p.m. and sunset was 7:42 p.m.? I followed a mosque in our area, which says that Maghrib is at 7:54 p.m., and I broke my fast at that time. Is my fast valid?

Also, what time do I pray Isha? Nuuriliman says it’s 9:20 p.m., is this correct? Do I follow the mosque’s time, or is it only for people going to pray there? Please clarify. I’ve read an article on this site while searching, but it was about Canada, and I was wondering if those calculations of 60 minutes apply to Minneapolis.

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.

May Allah guide every dimension of our lives to that which pleases Him. Amin.

The time of Maghrib prayer commences when the disk of the Sun disappears from the eastern horizon and ends when the red twilight disappears, which is when ‘Isha commences. [Nawawi, al-Majmu‘ Sharh al-Muhadhdhab]

Sunset on calendars usually indicates the beginning of the sunset. To know the exact time of Maghrib’s commencement, you must observe the natural phenomenon (when the disk disappears). Calculations are fairly accurate, but the time of prayer still depends on nature, and Allah knows best. However, you may follow the time of the local mosques’ call to prayer as the Adhan is rendered at the beginning of the prayer’s time, and Allah knows best.

I pray this is of benefit and that Allah guides us all.
[Shaykh] Irshaad Sedick
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Irshaad Sedick was raised in South Africa in a traditional Muslim family. He graduated from Dar al-Ulum al-Arabiyyah al-Islamiyyah in Strand, Western Cape, under the guidance of the late world-renowned scholar Shaykh Taha Karaan.

Shaykh Irshaad received Ijaza from many luminaries of the Islamic world, including Shaykh Taha Karaan, Mawlana Yusuf Karaan, and Mawlana Abdul Hafeez Makki, among others.

He is the author of the text “The Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal: A Hujjah or not?” He has served as the Director of the Discover Islam Centre and Al Jeem Foundation. For the last five years till present, he has served as the Khatib of Masjid Ar-Rashideen, Mowbray, Cape Town.

Shaykh Irshaad has thirteen years of teaching experience at some of the leading Islamic institutes in Cape Town). He is currently building an Islamic online learning and media platform called ‘Isnad Academy’ and has completed his Master’s degree in the study of Islam at the University of Johannesburg. He has a keen interest in healthy living and fitness.