Prayer Times in Netherlands

Muslims and mosques in Netherlands

Statistics Netherlands (CBS) estimated that about 6% of people in the Netherlands were Muslim in 2023, up from roughly 5% in 2007 and 4% in 2010. The two largest groups come from Turkey and Morocco, the countries the Netherlands recruited workers from in the 1960s: in 2006 about 38% of Dutch Muslims had Turkish roots and 31% Moroccan roots, with smaller communities from Suriname (34,000), Afghanistan (31,000), Iraq (27,000), Somalia (20,000), Indonesia (7,000) and, more recently, Syria. About 850,000 residents described themselves as Muslim in 2006. Amsterdam has about 140,000 Muslims, around 17% of its residents, and Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht are the other main centres. By province, the Muslim share is highest in South Holland (7.5%), Flevoland (7.2%) and North Holland (6.6%).

Dutch mosques reflect that history. An earlier estimate counted about 400 mosques, roughly 200 Turkish, 140 Moroccan and 50 Surinamese, and in 2018 there were 475, of which 146 were linked to Diyanet, the Turkish religious directorate. The oldest mosque in the Netherlands, the Mubarak Mosque in The Hague, was built in 1955 by the Ahmadiyya community, the Mevlana Mosque in Rotterdam opened in 2001, and the Westermoskee in Amsterdam is described as the largest in the country. Wikipedia dates the first improvised mosques in Amsterdam to the early 17th century, and the Jamia Taibah Mosque in Amsterdam-Zuidoost serves the Indo-Surinamese community, a reminder that Dutch Islam also has colonial roots. The Contact Body for Muslims and Government (CMO) says it represents about 80% of the Muslim community in talks with the state.

Dutch mosques are organised largely by country of origin, so neighbouring mosques can follow different calendars: in 2026 many mosques started Ramadan on 18 February following Saudi Arabia, while mosques with Turkish links and others began on 19 February.

For prayer times, the Netherlands lies at about 51 to 53 degrees north, so in June twilight stays in the sky for most of the night and the gap between Fajr and Isha is short, and in the middle of summer the high-latitude rule is applied for a few weeks. On this site's calculation the fast from Fajr to Maghrib in Amsterdam lasts about 18 hours on 21 June and 10 hours on 21 December. Clocks move forward in March and back in October. Awqatly lists the start time of each prayer for Dutch cities, and each mosque sets its own congregation times.

Sources, checked 2026-10: Wikipedia: Islam in the Netherlands (CBS figures); Wikipedia: Westermoskee, Amsterdam.