Prayer Times Richmond, VA Today

How Prayer Times in Richmond Change Through the Year

The sun runs Richmond's prayer clock, and it never keeps the same hours for long. Fajr reaches its earliest point of 2026 on 10 Jun 2026, at 4:17 AM, and its latest on 31 Oct 2026, at 6:21 AM: a swing of 2 hours 4 minutes between the two. A timetable printed in winter is out of date by summer. The swing is gentler than in the northern states because Richmond sits at 37.5 degrees north, where daylight stays steadier through the year.

The evening moves even more than the morning. The earliest Maghrib of the year in Richmond is 4:51 PM on 02 Dec 2026; the latest is 8:35 PM on 22 Jun 2026, a shift of 3 hours 44 minutes. On the longest day, 21 Jun 2026, sunset holds until 8:34 PM; on the shortest day, 21 Dec 2026, it comes at 4:55 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 Richmond runs 16 hours 17 minutes, on 18 Jun 2026, from a Fajr of 4:17 AM to a Maghrib of 8:34 PM; the shortest is just 10 hours 52 minutes on 19 Dec 2026. Measured against the other 218 cities and neighbourhoods we track, that longest fast ranks 99 of 218. Solar noon drifts as well: Dhuhr moves between 11:53 AM and 1:20 PM across the year, following the equation of time.

How Each Prayer Time Is Calculated in Richmond

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 Richmond 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 Richmond is 23 Jumādá al-ūlá 1448 (03 Nov 2026).

Fajr (5:23 AM today)

Fajr is prayed at dawn, when light first appears across the horizon before sunrise. Today in Richmond it begins at 5:23 AM and must be finished by sunrise (6:37 AM). Across the year, Richmond's dawn moves from 4:17 AM at the earliest to 6:21 AM at the latest, so regular worshippers reset their Fajr alarm every few weeks.

Dhuhr (11:53 AM today)

Dhuhr starts once the sun has crossed its peak and begun to decline. Solar noon is not the same as 12:00 on the clock, because Richmond sits within the America/New_York zone, away from its central meridian: today Dhuhr in Richmond is 11:53 AM. On Fridays the Jummah congregation takes the place of Dhuhr.

Asr (2:48 PM today)

Asr begins when an object's shadow equals its height beyond the noon shadow. That standard rule (Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali) gives 2:48 PM in Richmond today. The Hanafi rule waits until the shadow is twice the height, which falls roughly 45 to 65 minutes later; use the calculation method selector at the top of this page to view Hanafi Asr. Finish Asr before the sun turns yellow and weak near the horizon.

Maghrib (5:09 PM today)

Maghrib enters the moment the whole disc of the sun disappears below the horizon: 5:09 PM today in Richmond. It is also the iftar moment on fasting days, and the Sunnah is to break the fast promptly with dates or water, then pray.

Isha (6:23 PM today) and the Last Third of the Night

Isha begins when the red twilight leaves the western sky, at 6:23 PM tonight in Richmond. Islamic midnight is the midpoint between Maghrib and the next Fajr, and the last third of the night after it is the time of Tahajjud, the voluntary night prayer. Use our Tahajjud calculator to find tonight's last third for Richmond.

Friday Jummah and Mosques in Richmond, Virginia

Every Friday, Jummah replaces Dhuhr, and it is the largest weekly gathering of Muslims in Richmond. The verified list below covers 2 mosques and Islamic centers in Richmond, with addresses, headed by Islamic Center of Virginia at 1241 Buford Rd, North Chesterfield, VA 23235. Islamic Center of Richmond publishes a Jummah time of 1st Jumuah: English Talk 1:15 PM, Khutbah & Salah 1:40 PM; 2nd Jumuah: English Talk 2:20 PM, Khutbah & Salah 2:40 PM. Other mosques set their own khutbah times, so confirm before you travel.

Most mosques in Richmond also hold the five daily prayers in congregation, Quran classes for children, and taraweeh through Ramadan. If your mosque in Richmond is missing from the list, contact us and we will add it with its address and Jummah time.

Finding the Qibla Direction in Richmond (56.42° North-East)

Muslims pray facing the Kaaba in Mecca, and from Richmond that means facing 56.42° north-east from true north, measured the short way around the globe. The bearing comes from Richmond's position (37.5° N, 77.4° W) set against the Kaaba's (21.4225° N, 39.8262° E). At about 6677 miles (10745 km), that puts Richmond 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 Richmond, 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

Richmond moves its clocks twice a year, and the prayer timetable jumps with them. Daylight saving begins on 08 Mar 2026: Fajr leaps from 5:21 AM to 6:20 AM in one night, a shift of just under an hour, and Maghrib follows, from 6:09 PM to 7:10 PM. On 01 Nov 2026 the clocks fall back, and Fajr returns from 6:21 AM to 5:21 AM. Mosques in Richmond reset their iqamah boards on the same weekends. This page always follows the America/New_York time in force, so the times you see are already adjusted.

Daily Adhkar and Duas for Richmond

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.