Qibla · Paktia Province
Qibla direction in Gardez
To face the Kaaba in Gardez, turn to 252.4° measured clockwise from true north, which is west (17.6° south of west). The Sacred Mosque in Mecca lies 3,185 km away along the shortest path over the globe, and this is the direction the mihrabs of the mosques in Gardez should follow.
Line up the top of your phone or compass with the green needle: it marks 252.4°, the Qibla of Gardez. Phone compasses usually display true north, so a reading of 252° is all you need; a needle compass reads magnetic north and needs the local declination added or subtracted first.
Find the Qibla with your phone
How to face the Qibla in Gardez
Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards west and move a further 17.6° towards south: the result is the bearing of 252.4°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at west would leave you about 18° off.
Facing the Qibla is a condition of the prayer. Whoever prays inside the Sacred Mosque faces the Kaaba itself; whoever is far away, as in Gardez, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. Any of the mosques of Gardez is a handy reference, because the prayer rows were aligned when it was built. Once you know the direction at home, a discreet mark on the wall saves you from checking again.
Why a flat map shows a different direction
A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Gardez to Mecca points to 244.9° (south-west), 7.5° away from the correct 252.4°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 8 km longer than the true shortest route. The Qibla follows the great circle, the shortest path on the curved Earth, which is why the bearing differs.
How is the figure of 252.4° obtained? From the coordinates of Gardez (33.5974° N, 69.2259° E) and of the Kaaba (21.4225° N, 39.8262° E), spherical trigonometry gives the starting bearing of the great circle joining them. Mosque architects and astronomical Qibla tables rely on exactly the same calculation.
Distance from Gardez to Mecca and Medina
Mecca is 3,185 km from Gardez as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 3,040 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 4 h 15 min, although most pilgrims from Gardez connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.
Clocks in Gardez run 1.5 hours ahead of Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Gardez rather than those of Mecca.
Finding the Qibla with the sun in Gardez
On 251 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Gardez while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in March (31 days); for example, on 1 March 2027 it happens at 16:46 local time.
On 88 days the sun stands exactly opposite the Qibla: then the shadow of any vertical object, a pole, a door frame or a plumb line, points straight towards Mecca. This is most frequent in July (31 days), for instance on 15 May 2027 at 05:36.
| Date | Sun in the Qibla direction (face the sun) | Sun opposite (shadows point to the Qibla) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January 2027 | — | — |
| 15 January 2027 | — | — |
| 1 February 2027 | — | — |
| 15 February 2027 | — | — |
| 1 March 2027 | 16:46 | — |
| 15 March 2027 | 16:14 | — |
| 1 April 2027 | 15:34 | — |
| 15 April 2027 | 15:02 | — |
| 1 May 2027 | 14:29 | — |
| 15 May 2027 | 14:04 | 05:36 |
| 1 June 2027 | 13:44 | 05:59 |
| 15 June 2027 | 13:38 | 06:11 |
| 1 July 2027 | 13:42 | 06:14 |
| 15 July 2027 | 13:56 | 06:04 |
| 1 August 2027 | 14:20 | 05:42 |
| 15 August 2027 | 14:42 | — |
| 1 September 2027 | 15:10 | — |
| 15 September 2027 | 15:34 | — |
| 1 October 2027 | 16:01 | — |
| 15 October 2027 | 16:25 | — |
| 1 November 2027 | — | — |
| 15 November 2027 | — | — |
| 1 December 2027 | — | — |
| 15 December 2027 | — | — |
Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Gardez: at 13:48 and 13:57 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.
Gardez compared with other cities
Compared with Kabul, 104 km away, the Qibla in Gardez is turned 1.7° further clockwise (252.4° against 250.8°), and Mecca is 28 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Ghazni (75 km), prays towards 251.7°, a difference of 0.8°.
Across the 11 cities in Afghanistan on this site, the Qibla ranges from 242.5° in Herat to 252.5° in Kandahar, a spread of 10.0°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.
See all cities on the Qibla page for Afghanistan.
Qibla in cities near Gardez
Qibla in Gardez: questions and answers
What is the Qibla direction in Gardez?
It is 252.4° from true north, which is west: 17.6° south of west.
How far is Gardez from Mecca?
3,185 km in a straight line over the globe, and 3,040 km to Medina.
When does the sun show the Qibla in Gardez?
On 251 days of 2027 the sun stands in the Qibla direction; the table on this page gives the exact time for the 1st and 15th of each month.
Why is the Qibla in Gardez not the direction shown on a map?
Flat maps distort directions. The line on a map points to 244.9°, but the shortest route on the globe leaves Gardez at 252.4°, and that is the Qibla.
Does the Qibla change during the year?
No. The direction of 252.4° is fixed; only the times when the sun lines up with it change from day to day.