Midnight Dua

How to work out the last third of the night

Most people assume the last third of the night starts around midnight. It usually does not, and the difference can be more than an hour.

The night is measured from Maghrib to Fajr

In the Sunnah, the night begins at Maghrib and ends at Fajr. It is not the clock night from midnight to morning. So to find the last third, you take the whole span from sunset to dawn and divide it by three.

The calculation

Take the number of minutes from Maghrib to Fajr, multiply by two-thirds, and add that to Maghrib. The result is when the last third opens. It runs until Fajr.

A worked example

Maghrib at 19:12, Fajr at 05:47. The night is 10 hours and 35 minutes, which is 635 minutes. Two thirds of 635 is 423 minutes, or 7 hours and 3 minutes. Add that to 19:12 and you get 02:15.

So the last third runs from 02:15 to 05:47 — not from midnight, and not from 02:52 as some apps display. In summer, when the night is short, the window opens later and lasts barely two hours.

Why this third of the night

The Prophet ﷺ said that Allah descends to the lowest heaven when the last third of the night remains, saying: who is calling upon Me, that I may answer him; who is asking of Me, that I may give him; who is seeking My forgiveness, that I may forgive him (Bukhari 1145, Muslim 758).

What to pray

Tahajjud is prayed after sleeping, in pairs of two rakah, closed with an odd number as Witr — one rakah is enough. There is no fixed maximum. The Prophet ﷺ usually prayed eleven or thirteen rakah including Witr.

Common questions

Does the last third of the night start at midnight?

No. The night is counted from Maghrib to Fajr, so the last third usually begins well after midnight — with Maghrib at 19:12 and Fajr at 05:47 it begins at 02:15.

How do I calculate the last third of the night?

Take the minutes between Maghrib and Fajr, multiply by two thirds, and add the result to the Maghrib time. That point is when the last third begins, and it runs until Fajr.

How many rakah is Tahajjud?

There is no fixed maximum. It is prayed in pairs of two, closed with Witr, which can be as little as one rakah. The Prophet ﷺ usually prayed eleven or thirteen rakah in total.