Which Asr time is correct?

Both are, within their own school. This is a difference of juristic opinion about how to interpret a hadith describing shadow length, not a difference in astronomy or a calculation error. Follow the position of the school you follow, and in practice the time your local masjid prays.

How much later is Hanafi Asr?

Typically 45 to 90 minutes, but it depends on latitude and season. The gap is smallest when the sun passes high overhead — near the equator, and in summer — and widest in winter at higher latitudes, where the sun stays low and shadows lengthen slowly.

Does the school affect any other prayer time?

No. Fajr, Dhuhr, Maghrib and Isha are unaffected by the madhab setting. Asr is the only prayer whose start is defined by shadow length rather than by the sun's position relative to the horizon or its zenith.

Which does Sutrah use by default?

The public city pages use the Shafi'i (one shadow length) position, because it is the more widely used convention among English-language sources. Signed-in users can switch to Hanafi in settings, and every calculated time updates accordingly.

Can I pray Asr at the Shafi'i time if I follow the Hanafi school?

That is a question for a scholar rather than a calculation tool. What is worth knowing is that the two positions define when Asr begins, not when it ends — both agree Asr remains valid until sunset, so the later Hanafi start sits inside the earlier Shafi'i window rather than outside it.

Hanafi and Shafi'i Asr: why two apps show different times

Last updated 16 September 2026

Asr begins when an object's shadow reaches a set multiple of its own length beyond the shadow it cast at noon. The Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali schools use one shadow length; the Hanafi school uses two. That single difference moves Asr later by roughly 45 to 90 minutes depending on latitude and season, and both times are correct within their school.

The rule both schools start from

Asr is defined by shadow length. At solar noon, when the sun is at its highest, every upright object casts its shortest shadow of the day. As the afternoon goes on that shadow lengthens. Asr begins when the shadow has grown by a set multiple of the object's own height.

That much is agreed. The disagreement is the multiple.

School	Asr begins when the shadow equals
Shafi'i, Maliki, Hanbali	the object's height plus its noon shadow
Hanafi	twice the object's height plus its noon shadow

The “plus its noon shadow” part matters and is often dropped in simplified explanations. Outside the tropics the sun is never directly overhead, so even at noon an object casts some shadow. Both definitions measure growth from that baseline rather than from zero.

Why it can be an hour and a half

A one-metre pole needs its shadow to reach one metre for Shafi'i Asr and two metres for Hanafi Asr, measured past the noon shadow. How long that takes depends entirely on how fast the sun is descending, which depends on where you are and what time of year it is.

When the sun passes close to overhead, shadows are short at noon and lengthen quickly — the two thresholds arrive close together. When the sun stays low, as it does in a northern winter, shadows are already long at noon and grow slowly, so the second threshold can be well over an hour behind the first.

This is also why the gap is not a fixed offset you can memorise. It changes every day. Any source quoting “Hanafi Asr is an hour later” is describing one location in one season.

How to tell which one an app is showing you

Most apps expose this as a “madhab” or “juristic method” setting, sometimes labelled “Standard” and “Hanafi”. Standard means the Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali position.

If an app gives you no setting, compare its Asr against a source you know. A difference of an hour or so, with all other prayer times matching, is almost always the madhab and not an error. A difference in Fajr or Isha instead points to the calculation method, which is a separate setting governed by different numbers.

On the city pages the position in use is printed on the page alongside the angles, so you can check rather than guess.

Choosing, practically

The useful question is usually not which position is better supported but which one the people you pray with are using. Praying Asr in congregation matters more to most people than the fifty minutes, and turning up an hour after the jama'ah because your phone is set to a different school is a real cost.

So: follow your school, and set your app to whatever your local masjid prays. If you do not know, ask — or look at their published timetable and compare it with both positions for the same day, which will identify it immediately.

For a month of both to compare side by side, the printable timetable generator lets you switch madhab and regenerate, and prints the setting on the sheet.

Frequently asked questions

Which Asr time is correct?: Both are, within their own school. This is a difference of juristic opinion about how to interpret a hadith describing shadow length, not a difference in astronomy or a calculation error. Follow the position of the school you follow, and in practice the time your local masjid prays.
How much later is Hanafi Asr?: Typically 45 to 90 minutes, but it depends on latitude and season. The gap is smallest when the sun passes high overhead — near the equator, and in summer — and widest in winter at higher latitudes, where the sun stays low and shadows lengthen slowly.
Does the school affect any other prayer time?: No. Fajr, Dhuhr, Maghrib and Isha are unaffected by the madhab setting. Asr is the only prayer whose start is defined by shadow length rather than by the sun's position relative to the horizon or its zenith.
Which does Sutrah use by default?: The public city pages use the Shafi'i (one shadow length) position, because it is the more widely used convention among English-language sources. Signed-in users can switch to Hanafi in settings, and every calculated time updates accordingly.
Can I pray Asr at the Shafi'i time if I follow the Hanafi school?: That is a question for a scholar rather than a calculation tool. What is worth knowing is that the two positions define when Asr begins, not when it ends — both agree Asr remains valid until sunset, so the later Hanafi start sits inside the earlier Shafi'i window rather than outside it.