Wanasah Time is a small reference site for Americans who need to make sense of how time works in Saudi Arabia — because it genuinely works differently. The Kingdom runs its civil life on the Hijri (Islamic) lunar calendar alongside the Gregorian one, the whole country sits on a single time zone with no daylight saving time, and the daily rhythm of business and travel bends around five prayer times that shift a little every day.
If you're planning an Umrah trip, coordinating a call with Riyadh, or just trying to figure out why Ramadan lands earlier every year, the guides here walk through it in plain English:
- How the Hijri calendar works and why its dates move
- How prayer times are set and why they differ by city
- Which months have the mildest weather region by region
- The difference between Hajj and Umrah, including who regulates each
The most-used thing on the site is the Umrah Trip Planning Checklist — a quick self-scored rundown of the logistics most first-time travelers from the US overlook, from passport validity to ground transport between Jeddah, Makkah, and Madinah. It won't book anything for you, but it will tell you which pieces you haven't dealt with yet.
Everything here is cross-checked against official Saudi government sources, which are linked from every page so you can verify details yourself.