Methodology
Why does IslamicFinder show different prayer times for London?
Updated 2026-09-08
IslamicFinder is a global calculator. Most London mosques do not follow a generic 18° app method — they follow the London Unified Prayer Timetable (East London Mosque, London Central Mosque and most masajid inside the M25). In August the two can be a minute apart; around midsummer Fajr and Isha can diverge by tens of minutes. Compare the method and date, and use the mosque’s published congregation timetable when attending prayer.
In detail
IslamicFinder, Athan and similar products compute prayer times from coordinates and a calculation method you can change in settings. Their London page often labels a mosque (for example London Central Mosque) while still using an astronomical method. That is a valid private calculation. It is not automatically the congregation timetable that mosque is using.
London’s agreed public timetable is the London Unified Prayer Timetable, adopted in 2011 by Hizbul Ulama UK and the Central Moon Sighting Committee. Fajr and Isha come from observation tables, not a fixed angle, because at London’s latitude the sun often does not reach 18° below the horizon in summer.
Use IslamicFinder if you want a portable global calculator. Use this site (or the mosque’s own board) when the question is “what time are London mosques praying today?” We publish LUPT as the default for London and the M25, with MWL beside it so you can see the delta.