Prayer Times Columbus, OH Today

How Prayer Times in Columbus Change Through the Year

The sun runs Columbus's prayer clock, and it never keeps the same hours for long. Fajr reaches its earliest point of 2026 on 14 Jun 2026, at 4:25 AM, and its latest on 31 Oct 2026, at 6:44 AM: a swing of 2 hours 19 minutes between the two. A timetable printed in winter is out of date by summer. The swing is wide because Columbus sits at 40.0 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 Columbus is earliest on 01 Dec 2026 at 5:07 PM and latest on 23 Jun 2026 at 9:05 PM, a shift of 3 hours 58 minutes. On the longest day of the year, 21 Jun 2026, the sun sets at 9:04 PM; on the shortest day, 21 Dec 2026, it sets at 5:10 PM.

Anyone who keeps the voluntary fasts, on Mondays and Thursdays or the white days of each month, feels the range most. The longest fast of 2026 in Columbus runs 16 hours 39 minutes, on 18 Jun 2026, from a Fajr of 4:25 AM to a Maghrib of 9:04 PM; the shortest is just 10 hours 41 minutes on 17 Dec 2026. Measured against the other 218 cities and neighbourhoods we track, that longest fast ranks 73 of 218. Solar noon drifts as well: Dhuhr moves between 12:16 PM and 1:43 PM across the year, following the equation of time.

Summer nights are short. The latest Isha of the year falls on 20 Jun 2026 at 10:42 PM, and Fajr follows only a few hours later, so the night prayers crowd together in June and July. Many worshippers in Columbus plan sleep around this stretch, and some mosques combine or adjust summer night schedules, so check your local mosque's board in midsummer.

How Each Prayer Time Is Calculated in Columbus

Why do the times on this page move a little every day? Because each of the five prayers begins at a set position of the sun. PrayerTimesUSA works out the Columbus schedule with the ISNA method used across most of North America: Fajr and Isha at 15 degrees of sun depression, Asr by the standard shadow rule, with the Hanafi Asr in the method selector above. The Hijri date today in Columbus is 23 Jumādá al-ūlá 1448 (03 Nov 2026).

Fajr (5:47 AM today)

Fajr is the dawn prayer, and its time begins at true dawn, the first horizontal light in the east. Today in Columbus that is 5:47 AM. Pray it before sunrise (7:03 AM); after sunrise it counts as qada (missed). Through the year in Columbus, dawn moves between 4:25 AM and 6:44 AM, so the Fajr alarm needs resetting with the seasons.

Dhuhr (12:16 PM today)

Dhuhr begins just after the sun passes its highest point and starts to descend. Clock noon and solar noon rarely match, because Columbus sits inside the America/New_York zone rather than on its meridian, so Dhuhr today is 12:16 PM. On Fridays, Jummah replaces Dhuhr.

Asr (3:05 PM today)

Under the standard rule used by the Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali schools, Asr opens when a shadow stretches to the object's own length beyond the noon shadow. That gives 3:05 PM in Columbus today. Hanafi Asr, at twice the length, lands roughly 45 to 65 minutes later; flip the method selector at the top of the page to see it. The time to pray Asr runs out as the light yellows toward sunset.

Maghrib (5:27 PM today)

Maghrib begins at sunset, the instant the sun's disc slips fully below the horizon: today that is 5:27 PM in Columbus. On a fasting day this moment is iftar, and the Sunnah is to break the fast right away, with dates or water, and then pray Maghrib.

Isha (6:43 PM today) and the Last Third of the Night

Isha begins when the last red glow leaves the western sky: 6:43 PM tonight in Columbus. Halfway between Maghrib and the next Fajr falls Islamic midnight, and the last third of the night after it is set aside for Tahajjud, the voluntary night prayer. Tonight's last third for Columbus is on our Tahajjud calculator.

Friday Jummah and Mosques in Columbus, Ohio

Every Friday, Jummah replaces Dhuhr, and it is the largest weekly gathering of Muslims in Columbus. The verified list below covers 6 mosques and Islamic centers in Columbus, with addresses, headed by Noor Islamic Cultural Center at 5001 Wilcox Rd, Dublin, OH 43016. Noor Islamic Cultural Center publishes a Jummah time of 12:00 PM, 1:15 PM, 2:30 PM & 3:10 PM; Omar Ibn El-Khattab Masjid publishes a Jummah time of English 12:30 PM, Arabic 1:45 PM. Other mosques set their own khutbah times, so confirm before you travel.

Beyond Friday, expect daily congregational prayers, children's Quran classes and taraweeh in Ramadan at these centers. Mosque not listed? Send us the details and we will add it with its address and Jummah time.

Finding the Qibla Direction in Columbus (52.32° North-East)

Prayer is valid only when faced toward the Kaaba in Mecca, and from Columbus the shortest path over the Earth's surface, the great-circle route, points 52.32° north-east from true north. The bearing is calculated from Columbus's coordinates (40.0° N, 83.0° W) to the Kaaba (21.4225° N, 39.8262° E). Along that bearing, the Kaaba is about 6823 miles (10981 km) from Columbus in a straight line over the Earth's curved surface. 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.

To face the qibla at home or at work in Columbus, open the Qibla Compass on your phone, calibrate it with a slow figure-eight motion, and keep it away from metal furniture and electrical equipment that pull the needle. In a mosque, the mihrab already marks the direction.

Daylight Saving Time in Ohio: The Two Jump Days

Twice a year in Columbus, the clock moves and every prayer time jumps with it. When daylight saving time begins on 08 Mar 2026, Fajr moves from 5:42 AM to 6:40 AM in a single night, a shift of just under an hour, and Maghrib moves from 6:31 PM to 7:32 PM. When standard time returns on 01 Nov 2026, Fajr moves from 6:44 AM back to 5:45 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 Columbus

Complete the prayers with the authentic supplications: the dua after adhan, dua after wudu, the 33-times tasbih after each prayer, and duas for hardship and gratitude. Read them in our dua library with Arabic text, transliteration and translation.