Prayer Times Paterson, NJ Today

How Prayer Times in Paterson Change Through the Year

The sun runs Paterson's prayer clock, and it never keeps the same hours for long. Fajr reaches its earliest point of 2026 on 13 Jun 2026, at 3:44 AM, and its latest on 31 Oct 2026, at 6:09 AM: a swing of 2 hours 25 minutes between the two. A timetable printed in winter is out of date by summer. The swing is wide because Paterson sits at 40.9 degrees north, far enough from the equator for the seasons to move the sun's path a long way.

Sunset moves even further. Maghrib in Paterson is earliest on 07 Dec 2026 at 4:28 PM and latest on 24 Jun 2026 at 8:33 PM, a shift of 4 hours 5 minutes. On the longest day of the year, 21 Jun 2026, the sun sets at 8:32 PM; on the shortest day, 21 Dec 2026, it sets at 4:32 PM.

For anyone fasting outside Ramadan, such as the Monday and Thursday fasts or the white days each month, the longest fast of 2026 in Paterson runs 16 hours 48 minutes on 19 Jun 2026, from Fajr at 3:44 AM to Maghrib at 8:32 PM. The shortest fast is 10 hours 36 minutes on 20 Dec 2026. Solar noon moves too: Dhuhr ranges from 11:40 AM in one part of the year to 1:07 PM in another, following the equation of time. Measured against the other 218 cities and neighbourhoods we track, only 51 have a longer longest fast, which puts Paterson in the longest-fast quarter of the country.

How Each Prayer Time Is Calculated in Paterson

Each prayer begins at a defined position of the sun, not at a fixed clock time. PrayerTimesUSA calculates the Paterson timetable with the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) method, the standard used by most mosques in the United States: Fajr and Isha at a sun angle of 15 degrees, Asr by the standard shadow rule, with the Hanafi Asr shown through the method selector. Today's Hijri date in Paterson is 23 Jumādá al-ūlá 1448 (03 Nov 2026).

Fajr (5:13 AM today)

True dawn, the first white light spreading sideways along the eastern horizon, opens the Fajr window. In Paterson today that moment is 5:13 AM. The window shuts at sunrise (6:30 AM); a Fajr prayed after that is qada, a missed prayer made up later. Because dawn in Paterson swings between 3:44 AM and 6:09 AM over the year, a fixed alarm time never works for long.

Dhuhr (11:40 AM today)

The noon prayer begins once the sun has passed its peak. In Paterson that works out to 11:40 AM today. Clock time and sun time differ here because Paterson keeps America/New_York time from a position away from the zone's central meridian. On Fridays the congregational Jummah replaces Dhuhr.

Asr (2:28 PM today)

The standard Asr rule (followed by the Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali schools) starts Asr when a shadow grows as long as the object itself, past the noon shadow: 2:28 PM in Paterson today. The Hanafi school uses twice the length, putting Asr roughly 45 to 65 minutes later; switch the method at the top of the page to see it. Pray Asr before the sunlight yellows late in the day.

Maghrib (4:50 PM today)

Maghrib's window opens at sunset, the instant the sun's disc drops fully out of sight: 4:50 PM today in Paterson. For someone fasting, this is iftar, and the Sunnah is to break the fast at once, with dates or water, before praying.

Isha (6:07 PM today) and the Last Third of the Night

When the red twilight has gone from the west, Isha begins: 6:07 PM tonight in Paterson. The night that follows is measured from Maghrib to Fajr; its last third, after Islamic midnight, is the Tahajjud time. Use the Tahajjud calculator to find tonight's last third in Paterson.

Friday Jummah and Mosques in Paterson, New Jersey

Jummah, the Friday congregational prayer, replaces Dhuhr every week and is the largest regular gathering of Muslims in Paterson. 2 mosques and Islamic centers in Paterson are listed below with their addresses, including Islamic Center of Passaic County at 152 Derrom Ave, Paterson, NJ 07504. Islamic Center of Passaic County publishes a Jummah time of Jumu'ah 12:00 PM, 1:15 PM. Other mosques set their own khutbah times, so confirm before you travel.

Alongside Jummah, these mosques hold the five daily congregational prayers, weekend Quran classes for children, and taraweeh in Ramadan. Know a Paterson mosque that is not listed? Send us its details and we will add it with its address and Jummah time.

Finding the Qibla Direction in Paterson (58.36° North-East)

Muslims pray facing the Kaaba in Mecca, and from Paterson that means facing 58.36° north-east from true north, measured the short way around the globe. The bearing comes from Paterson's position (40.9° N, 74.2° W) set against the Kaaba's (21.4225° N, 39.8262° E). At about 6404 miles (10306 km), that puts Paterson among the closer American places to Mecca. It surprises many people that the direction is north-east rather than south-east: from North America, the shortest line to Mecca crosses the North Atlantic, not the Pacific.

At home or at work in Paterson, the Qibla Compass on your phone reads the bearing directly. Calibrate it with a slow figure-eight motion, and keep it clear of metal furniture and electronics that drag the needle. Inside a mosque, the mihrab already marks the direction.

Daylight Saving Time in New Jersey: The Two Jump Days

Twice a year in Paterson, the clock moves and every prayer time jumps with it. When daylight saving time begins on 08 Mar 2026, Fajr moves from 5:06 AM to 6:05 AM in a single night, a shift of just under an hour, and Maghrib moves from 5:55 PM to 6:56 PM. When standard time returns on 01 Nov 2026, Fajr moves from 6:09 AM back to 5:10 AM, and sunset prayers come an hour earlier in the evening. Every time on this page already follows the America/New_York clock in force on that date, so no manual adjustment is ever needed.

Daily Adhkar and Duas for Paterson

The day in Paterson runs from Fajr at 5:13 AM to Isha at 6:07 PM; fill the spaces between with the authentic adhkar: dua after adhan, dua after wudu, the 33-times tasbih after prayer, and duas for hardship and gratitude, all in our dua library with Arabic text, transliteration and translation.