Taraweeh Prayer Times for Every Night of Ramadan
When taraweeh starts at your masjid, why the time drifts through Ramadan, what a first night is like, and where to find tonight's schedule for masajid near you.
When does taraweeh start?
Taraweeh is prayed after Isha, so taraweeh prayer times follow the Isha time at your masjid. Isha moves with the season, and Ramadan moves about eleven days earlier each year: in the Ramadans of the late 2020s, which fall in late winter and early spring in the United States, most masajid hold the Isha iqama between about 7 and 9 pm, with taraweeh starting a few minutes later. Because Isha moves later as the days lengthen, the start usually drifts ten to twenty minutes between the first night and the last.
That is why last year's schedule does not help this year, and why your cousin's masjid may start half an hour after yours. Each masjid sets its own Isha iqama and its own gap before taraweeh, and many change the format for the last ten nights.
The reliable source is the masjid's own published schedule. If your masjid is on Ummah, its Ramadan timetable shows on its Community Page and in the free Ummah app.
What to expect on your first night
If you have not prayed taraweeh in congregation before, or not for a while, this is roughly how the evening goes.
- Isha first, then taraweeh after a short pause. Arrive ten minutes before the Isha iqama; parking fills fast in Ramadan.
- Masajid differ in the number of rak'ahs and how much Qur'an is recited. Many complete the Qur'an over the month, about a juz' a night, so expect 60 to 90 minutes.
- You can leave after any pair of rak'ahs. Parents with small children and people with early shifts pray what they can.
- Witr closes the night. In the last ten nights many masajid add late qiyam and post a separate schedule for it.
Finding taraweeh in a new city or on the road
Ramadan travel means praying somewhere you do not know. These are the dependable ways to find a masjid and tonight's time.
- Search the Ummah directory at theummah.io/tools/find-a-masjid/ by metro. It lists 3,000+ masajid and Muslim organizations with prayer and iqama times where the masjid publishes them.
- Look for a full Ramadan timetable on the masjid's page or website. A daily grid is more trustworthy than a one-line post from last week.
- Call if the posted time is from a previous Ramadan. Someone at the office will know tonight's Isha iqama.
- Ask at Jumu'ah. The person beside you knows which nearby masajid pray shorter or longer nights.
For masajid: publish the schedule once
Every Ramadan the office answers the same question hundreds of times. A published schedule answers it for you.
- Enter your Isha iqama and taraweeh start for the month on your free Ummah Community Page. Changes for the last ten nights take a minute.
- The same times show in the Ummah app, on your public page and in the free website widget, so there is one schedule instead of three.
- List community iftars, qiyam nights and the Eid prayer as events. People who follow your page see them in their feed and can RSVP.
- It is free on the Free plan and needs no developer.
Ramadan nights beyond the prayer
Most masajid open well before Isha in Ramadan. Many serve iftar at Maghrib, nightly or on weekends, and add a short talk before taraweeh. In the last ten nights, qiyam programs often run past midnight and end with suhoor.
Those programs are listed as events in the Ummah app and on each city's Muslim events page, such as theummah.io/muslim-events-dallas/, so you can see which masjid is hosting an iftar on which night.
Why there is no single time for your city
People search for taraweeh prayer times for a whole city and expect one answer. There is none. Masajid calculate Isha differently, set the iqama locally and leave different gaps before taraweeh, so two masajid a mile apart can start 30 minutes apart.
Treat any city-wide figure as a rough guide and the masjid's own schedule as the real one. Ummah shows calculated adhan for 1,900+ masajid and real iqama for the 300+ that have entered it.