Prayer Times Alexandria, VA Today

How Prayer Times in Alexandria Change Through the Year

The sun runs Alexandria's prayer clock, and it never keeps the same hours for long. Fajr reaches its earliest point of 2026 on 13 Jun 2026, at 4:08 AM, and its latest on 31 Oct 2026, at 6:20 AM: a swing of 2 hours 12 minutes between the two. A timetable printed in winter is out of date by summer. The swing is wide because Alexandria sits at 38.8 degrees north, far enough from the equator for the seasons to move the sun's path a long way.

The evening moves even more than the morning. The earliest Maghrib of the year in Alexandria is 4:46 PM on 03 Dec 2026; the latest is 8:37 PM on 21 Jun 2026, a shift of 3 hours 51 minutes. On the longest day, 21 Jun 2026, sunset holds until 8:37 PM; on the shortest day, 21 Dec 2026, it comes at 4:50 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 Alexandria runs 16 hours 28 minutes on 17 Jun 2026, from Fajr at 4:08 AM to Maghrib at 8:36 PM. The shortest fast is 10 hours 46 minutes on 20 Dec 2026. Solar noon moves too: Dhuhr ranges from 11:52 AM in one part of the year to 1:19 PM in another, following the equation of time. Measured against the other 218 cities and neighbourhoods we track, that longest fast ranks 86 of 218.

How Each Prayer Time Is Calculated in Alexandria

The Alexandria timetable on this page is calculated with the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) method, the convention followed by most mosques in the United States. It sets Fajr and Isha by a 15-degree depression angle of the sun, and Asr by the standard shadow rule; the Hanafi Asr is one tap away in the method selector. Each prayer is tied to a position of the sun, never to a fixed clock time. Today, 03 Nov 2026, is 23 Jumādá al-ūlá 1448.

Fajr (5:23 AM today)

Fajr is prayed at dawn, when light first appears across the horizon before sunrise. Today in Alexandria it begins at 5:23 AM and must be finished by sunrise (6:37 AM). Across the year, Alexandria's dawn moves from 4:08 AM at the earliest to 6:20 AM at the latest, so regular worshippers reset their Fajr alarm every few weeks.

Dhuhr (11:52 AM today)

The noon prayer begins once the sun has passed its peak. In Alexandria that works out to 11:52 AM today. Clock time and sun time differ here because Alexandria keeps America/New_York time from a position away from the zone's central meridian. On Fridays the congregational Jummah replaces Dhuhr.

Asr (2:44 PM today)

Asr begins when the afternoon shadow of an object equals its height, on top of the shadow it cast at noon. In Alexandria today that is 2:44 PM by the standard (Shafi'i, Maliki, Hanbali) rule. The Hanafi school waits for double the height, around 45 to 65 minutes later; the method selector above shows that time. Pray it before the sun weakens and yellows near the horizon.

Maghrib (5:05 PM today)

At 5:05 PM today in Alexandria, the sun sets and Maghrib begins. Its window is the shortest of the day, so it is prayed promptly. On fasting days this same moment is iftar: break the fast first, following the Sunnah, with dates or water.

Isha (6:20 PM today) and the Last Third of the Night

When the red twilight has gone from the west, Isha begins: 6:20 PM tonight in Alexandria. 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 Alexandria.

Friday Jummah and Mosques in Alexandria, Virginia

Every Friday, Jummah replaces Dhuhr, and it is the largest weekly gathering of Muslims in Alexandria. The verified list below covers 2 mosques and Islamic centers in Alexandria, with addresses, headed by ICNA Virginia Islamic Center at 2913 Woodlawn Trail, Alexandria, VA 22306. Imam al-Asr Masjid publishes a Jummah time of Jum'ah Prayer 1:15 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 Alexandria (56.56° North-East)

Prayer is valid only when faced toward the Kaaba in Mecca, and from Alexandria the shortest path over the Earth's surface, the great-circle route, points 56.56° north-east from true north. The bearing is calculated from Alexandria's coordinates (38.8° N, 77.0° W) to the Kaaba (21.4225° N, 39.8262° E). At about 6611 miles (10639 km), that puts Alexandria 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 Alexandria, 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 Virginia: The Two Jump Days

Twice a year in Alexandria, the clock moves and every prayer time jumps with it. When daylight saving time begins on 08 Mar 2026, Fajr moves from 5:19 AM to 6:17 AM in a single night, a shift of just under an hour, and Maghrib moves from 6:07 PM to 7:08 PM. When standard time returns on 01 Nov 2026, Fajr moves from 6:20 AM back to 5:21 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 Alexandria

The day in Alexandria runs from Fajr at 5:23 AM to Isha at 6:20 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.