Assalamo Alikom,
The Edmonton Prayer Times Calculation Committee has recently revised the method of which prayer times are calculated. The new calendar for 2010 is available for sale at MCE and will be insha Allah posted on the website soon. Please be advised that the changes are mainly for the Fajr and Isha times. The MCE will be following the new calendar as of Sunday January 3rd insha Allah.
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Summary of the Edmonton Prayer Times Calculation Committee report:
Objective
The objective of this committee was to arrive at a correct (scientifically valid & verifiable) and unified prayer calendar for all Edmonton mosques.
Committee Findings 
The current calendar implements an angle of descent for the sun (below the horizon) equal to 11.5° (roughly 12°) to calculate the time of Ishaa. The current calendar also implements an angle 15° to calculate the time of Fajr. Despite there being “no objection” to using these angles for some locations on the globe, it has not been officially adopted by any Islamic Council worldwide (including ISNA).
The calculations of Dr. Khalid Shawkat (www.moonsighting.com) were considered. However, no official endorsement or adoption of his calculation methods was found.
Conversely, the committee has found that there is significant scientific and scholarly evidence supporting an angle of 17° for Ishaa and an angle of 18° degrees for Fajr. In particular, this committee is referencing the fatwa issued by the Islamic Fiqh Council of the World Islamic League (www.themwl.org) on March 23rd of 1986 (decision #6), which was reaffirmed by the same council in 2007 (see attached documents). The same Fatwa was also adopted by the European Council for Fatwa and Research (www.e-cfr.org) in its 11
th conference (decision #1) and again in its 12th conference (decision #2). See attached copies of the two decisions.
Committee Recommendations
After close consultations with the Imams of Al-Rashid, MCE and Markaz Ul-Islam, the committee has reached a consensus that we should recreate the Edmonton prayer calendar for the year 2010 using the following recommendations:
- Strive to apply the Fatwa mentioned above whenever it is deemed possible and practical.
- During the period (Aug. 15th – Apr. 30th), Fajr time is calculated based on angle 18°, according to the Fatwa.
- During the critical period (May 1st – Aug. 14th), the Fajr time is calculated by fixing the ratio of the time between Fajr and sunrise to the corresponding ratio at latitude 45° on June 21st. This is considered to be a conservative way of implementing the Fatwa of the Islamic Fiqh Council.
- Employing a similar method (as in items 2 and 3) to calculate the time of Ishaa during the critical period produces times that are considered too late to be practical.
- During the period (Sep. 21st – Mar. 20th), Ishaa time is calculated based on the angle of 17°, in accordance with the Fatwa.
- Based on the flexibility allowed by the Fatwa of the European Council for Fatwa and Research, the time of Ishaa, on June 21st, is set exactly 1.5 hours after Maghrib. The time difference between Maghrib and Ishaa then changes linearly from 1.5 hours on June 21st to the difference calculated based on the angle 17° on Sep. 21st. A similar linear change is done for the period from Mar. 21st to June 21st.
- The 2-minute safe zones, in accordance with the Fatwa, are recommended. This means that Thuhr, Asr, Maghrib and Ishaa times are set two minutes after the calculated times; conversely, Fajr and sunrise are set two minutes before the calculated times.
- That there be a special dispensation, or license, acknowledged and endorsed by the Imams, for those who are unable to wait until the proper time of Ishaa, that they be allowed to join their Maghrib and Ishaa prayers, assuming they are able to make it as close to its correct time as possible.
