Qibla Finder: Find the Direction of the Kaaba

What is the qibla?

The qibla is the direction Muslims face in prayer, towards the Kaaba in Mecca (Surah al-Baqarah, verse 144). Someone who can see the Kaaba faces it directly. According to a fatwa of the Higher Board of Religious Affairs of Türkiye's Diyanet, most scholars hold that those far from the Kaaba need only face its direction, and slight deviations do not harm the validity of the prayer.

The same fatwa gives the measure: a person has not turned completely away from the qibla as long as they stay within 45 degrees to the right or left of the straight line to the Kaaba. Someone who does not know the direction makes an effort to find out and prays according to what they learn; if they later discover a mistake, the prayer stands. A prayer offered deliberately in another direction is not valid. In a mosque there is no need to check, because mosques are built with the qibla determined.

How is the qibla angle calculated?

The Earth is a sphere, so the shortest path between two points follows a great circle, the curve where a plane through the centre of the Earth cuts its surface. The qibla angle is the starting direction of the great-circle arc from where you stand to the Kaaba, measured clockwise from true north: 0° is north, 90° east, 180° south and 270° west.

The calculation uses spherical trigonometry. Its inputs are your latitude and longitude and the coordinates of the Kaaba: 21.4225° north, 39.8262° east (the value the adhan library uses for its qibla calculation). The finder on this page and the table of 81 provinces below use the same formula; the table is computed on the server and the finder on your own device.

Drawing a straight line between two points on a map, especially on a Mercator map, gives a different angle from the great-circle direction. That is why a calculated value is more reliable than a line measured on a map.

How accurate is a phone compass?

• A compass sensor is small and sensitive. Metal surfaces, magnetic cases, speakers, vehicles and reinforced concrete throw it off, and a few degrees of drift is normal.
• Hold the phone flat and wait a few seconds. If it drifts, wave the phone in a figure of eight to calibrate it.
• Phone compasses work from magnetic north, while the qibla angle is given from true north. The difference (magnetic declination) varies by place and year and is a few degrees in Türkiye.
• When in doubt, compare the compass with the qibla-time method described below or with the mihrab of a mosque.

How to find the qibla without a compass

Qibla time: finding it with the sun

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba. At that moment the sun lies in the direction of the Kaaba from anywhere on Earth that can see it. According to Diyanet astronomer Hümeyra Nur İşlek, these moments are 12:18 on 28 May and 12:27 on 16 July in Türkiye time, the same in every province from Edirne to Kars (TRT Haber, citing AA, 15 July 2018). The date can shift by a day with the year (27 or 28 May, 15 or 16 July); the clock times do not. Türkiye and Mecca share a time zone (UTC+3), so elsewhere convert them to your local time: 09:18 and 09:27 UTC.

Do not look straight at the sun. The shadow of an upright stick, a door frame or a window edge stretches away from the qibla, so turn to face the direction opposite to the way the shadow points and you are facing the qibla. The method fails under cloud, and the sun must be above the horizon where you are; at that hour it has not yet risen in much of the Americas.

The mihrab of a mosque

According to the Diyanet fatwa, mosques are built with the qibla determined. If you pray in a mosque, the wall with the mihrab faces the qibla and you need not check.