Prayer Times in United Arab Emirates

Muslims and mosques in United Arab Emirates

Islam is the official religion of the United Arab Emirates, and a 2010 Pew Research Center estimate put 76.9% of the whole population, citizens and residents together, as Muslim. Residents from many countries, among them Iran, Pakistan, India and other Arab states, make the Muslim community unusually mixed. Most Muslims are Sunni and follow the Maliki school of jurisprudence: the Bani Yas, the tribal confederation of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, have traditionally followed it. Shia Islam is practised by roughly 5 to 10% of Emiratis, according to the CIA World Factbook, and also among Iranians and some Arab, Pakistani and Indian residents, and there are Ismaili and Dawoodi Bohra communities too. Media estimates quoted in the US Department of State's 2017 religious freedom report suggest that fewer than 20% of the Muslims who are not citizens are Shia, which means that the large majority of the foreign-born Muslim community is Sunni.

The state organises religion at several levels. The federal General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments (Awqaf) oversees Sunni mosques, except in Dubai, where the Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department (IACAD) does the same. The government funds Sunni mosques and employs their imams, and the Jaafari Affairs Council manages Shia matters. Awqaf also runs toll-free fatwa call centres and text services in Arabic, English and Urdu. The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi and the Jumeirah Mosque in Dubai are the best known mosques, and visitors of other faiths can enter them at set times.

Ramadan changes daily life more visibly here than in most countries. Public eating, drinking and smoking between dawn and sunset are not permitted, and failure to respect the fast can result in fines; designated cafes and restaurants open in the morning with reduced hours. Private-sector working hours are reduced by law during the month. Visitors should check current guidance, because the rules and the enforcement have been changing.

For prayer times, the UAE keeps one time zone, UTC+4, with no daylight saving, and it is small enough that times differ by only a few minutes: the sun rises about eight minutes earlier in Fujairah on the east coast than in Abu Dhabi. On this site's calculation the fast from Fajr to Maghrib in Dubai lasts about 15 and a half hours on 21 June and 12 hours on 21 December. This site uses the Dubai method for the Emirates. The start of Ramadan and Eid is announced by the UAE's religious authorities, and congregation times are set by each mosque.

Sources, checked 2026-10: Wikipedia: Islam in the United Arab Emirates; Wikipedia: Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.