← Find a masjid

MasjidScreen API for developers

Salaah (prayer) times for every masjid on MasjidScreen, as simple JSON. Free to use, no key and no sign-up: one GET request per masjid.

FreeNo API keyCORS enabled1 request / second

Quick start

Every masjid has its own address on MasjidScreen, called its slug (for example northcliff for masjidscreen.co.za/northcliff/). Add /api/prayertimes.php to it:

curl "https://masjidscreen.co.za/northcliff/api/prayertimes.php?fields=fajr,zuhr,asr,maghrib,esha"

That returns today's times for that masjid, in the masjid's own timezone, with no authentication.

Try it

Press "Send request" to see a live response.

Reference

Parameters

Full response

{
  "masjid": {
    "slug": "northcliff",
    "name": "Northcliff Masjid",
    "area": "Risidale, Randburg",
    "address": "3 Salerno Road, Risidale, Randburg",
    "timezone": "Africa/Johannesburg",
    "url": "https://masjidscreen.co.za/northcliff/"
  },
  "date": "2026-10-29",
  "salaah_times": {
    "fajr":    { "athaan": "04:25:00", "jamaat": "04:45:00" },
    "zuhr":    { "athaan": "12:55:00", "jamaat": "13:15:00" },
    "asr":     { "athaan": "17:00:00", "jamaat": "17:15:00" },
    "maghrib": { "athaan": "18:25:00", "jamaat": "18:25:00" },
    "esha":    { "athaan": "19:45:00", "jamaat": "20:00:00" },
    "jummah":  { "athaan": "12:20:00", "jamaat": "12:50:00" }
  },
  "reference_times": { "sehri_end": "03:54:00", "sunrise": "05:21:00", "zawal": "11:47:00", "source": "city" },
  "upcoming_changes": [
    { "salaah": "asr", "effective_date": "2026-11-01", "athaan": "17:15:00", "jamaat": "17:30:00" }
  ]
}

• athaan is the call to prayer; jamaat is when the congregational prayer starts. Both are 24-hour HH:MM:SS, in the masjid's own timezone.
• A time a masjid hasn't set is null. jummah only applies on Fridays; some masjids don't have one.
• Maghrib follows sunset. Its jamaat can be a few minutes after the athaan, as set by the masjid.
• reference_times are astronomical times for the masjid's area: sehri_end, sunrise, zawal.
• upcoming_changes lists time changes coming up shortly, so an app can warn people in advance.

Filtered response (?fields=fajr,sunrise&date=2026-12-25)

{
  "masjid": "northcliff",
  "date": "2026-12-25",
  "fajr": { "athaan": "04:10:00", "jamaat": "04:30:00" },
  "sunrise": "05:14:00"
}

Errors

Errors are JSON like {"error": "…"}.

Responses allow requests from any website (Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *), so it works straight from browser JavaScript.

Examples

# Today's times for one masjid
curl "https://masjidscreen.co.za/northcliff/api/prayertimes.php?fields=fajr,zuhr,asr,maghrib,esha"

# Just the Asr jamaat time, using jq
curl -s "https://masjidscreen.co.za/northcliff/api/prayertimes.php?fields=asr" | jq -r '.asr.jamaat'

# A specific date (identify your app with a User-Agent)
curl -A "my-app/1.0 (you@example.com)" "https://masjidscreen.co.za/northcliff/api/prayertimes.php?date=2026-12-25&fields=fajr"

// Works in a browser or Node 18+
async function getTimes(slug) {
  const url = `https://masjidscreen.co.za/${slug}/api/prayertimes.php?fields=fajr,zuhr,asr,maghrib,esha`;
  const res = await fetch(url);
  if (res.status === 429) {                       // too many requests: wait, then retry once
    const wait = Number(res.headers.get('Retry-After') || 1);
    await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, wait * 1000));
    return getTimes(slug);
  }
  if (!res.ok) throw new Error((await res.json()).error);
  return res.json();
}

const t = await getTimes('northcliff');
console.log(`${t.date}: Asr jamaat ${t.asr.jamaat}`);

// Needs the full response, which includes the masjid's timezone
const res = await fetch('https://masjidscreen.co.za/northcliff/api/prayertimes.php');
const { masjid, salaah_times } = await res.json();

const parts = new Intl.DateTimeFormat('en-GB', { timeZone: masjid.timezone, hour: '2-digit', minute: '2-digit', hourCycle: 'h23' })
  .formatToParts(new Date());
const nowMin = Number(parts.find(p => p.type === 'hour').value) * 60 + Number(parts.find(p => p.type === 'minute').value);

const toMin = (t) => { const [h, m] = t.split(':'); return h * 60 + Number(m); };
const next = ['fajr', 'zuhr', 'asr', 'maghrib', 'esha']
  .map((name) => ({ name, jamaat: salaah_times[name].jamaat }))
  .find((p) => p.jamaat && toMin(p.jamaat) > nowMin);

console.log(next ? `Next: ${next.name} at ${next.jamaat.slice(0, 5)}` : "All of today's prayers have passed");

import time
import requests

HEADERS = {"User-Agent": "my-app/1.0 (you@example.com)"}   # tell us who you are

def get_times(slug, **params):
    r = requests.get(f"https://masjidscreen.co.za/{slug}/api/prayertimes.php", params=params, headers=HEADERS, timeout=10)
    if r.status_code == 429:                              # too many requests: wait, then retry once
        time.sleep(int(r.headers.get("Retry-After", 1)))
        return get_times(slug, **params)
    r.raise_for_status()
    return r.json()

t = get_times("northcliff", fields="fajr,zuhr,asr,maghrib,esha")
print(t["date"], "Asr jamaat", t["asr"]["jamaat"])

import re, time, requests

sitemap = requests.get("https://masjidscreen.co.za/sitemap.php", timeout=10).text
slugs = re.findall(r"masjidscreen\.co\.za/([a-z0-9_]+)/<", sitemap)

for slug in slugs[:20]:
    t = get_times(slug, fields="fajr,asr")               # get_times from above
    print(slug, t["fajr"]["jamaat"], t["asr"]["jamaat"])
    time.sleep(1.1)                                       # at most one request per second

<?php
$url = "https://masjidscreen.co.za/northcliff/api/prayertimes.php?fields=fajr,zuhr,asr,maghrib,esha";
$context = stream_context_create(["http" => [
    "header"        => "User-Agent: my-app/1.0 (you@example.com)\r\n",
    "timeout"       => 10,
    "ignore_errors" => true,          // so a 4xx/5xx body can be read
]]);

$body = file_get_contents($url, false, $context);
$data = json_decode($body, true);

if (isset($data["error"])) {
    exit("Error: " . $data["error"]);   // e.g. a 429 when requests are too frequent
}
echo $data["date"] . " Asr jamaat " . $data["asr"]["jamaat"] . "\n";

Finding a masjid's slug

• Search the directory at https://masjidscreen.co.za/. Opening a masjid shows its slug in the address: masjidscreen.co.za/slug/.
• For a complete list, /sitemap.php is a standard XML sitemap with every masjid's page. The slug is the last part of each address.

Rate limit and fair use

Developers are welcome to use the API, as long as it's used responsibly:

• Cache. A masjid's times change at most once a day. Fetch once and reuse the answer rather than asking on every page view or app launch.
• Don't poll. There's no need to refresh a masjid more than once or twice a day, and never every minute.
• Many masjids? Space your requests at least a second apart (see the Python example above), and use fields to keep responses small.
• Back off on 429. Wait for Retry-After instead of retrying immediately.
• Identify your app with a descriptive User-Agent and a contact address, so we can reach you if something misbehaves.
• Times come from each masjid. Their administrators enter and maintain them, so please encourage your users to confirm with their masjid.

Need more than this allows, a bulk export, or have something to report? Email support@masjidscreen.co.za.

AI agents

AI assistants and agents are welcome to use the same API. A short guide written for them is at /llms.txt, and the same rate limit and fair-use guidelines apply.