Qibla · Sidi Bel Abbès Province
Qibla direction in Sidi Bel Abbes
To face the Kaaba in Sidi Bel Abbes, turn to 100.3° measured clockwise from true north, which is east (10.3° south of east). The Sacred Mosque in Mecca lies 4,211 km away along the shortest path over the globe, and this is the direction the mihrabs of the mosques in Sidi Bel Abbes should follow.
On the compass the green needle points to 100.3°. If your phone shows true north, rotate until the heading reads 100°; with a classic magnetic compass, first correct for the local magnetic declination, which can shift the needle by several degrees.
Find the Qibla with your phone
How to face the Qibla in Sidi Bel Abbes
Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 10.3° towards south: the result is the bearing of 100.3°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at east would leave you about 10° off.
Scholars agree that someone who can see the Kaaba must face it exactly, while someone far away faces its direction (jihat al-Ka‘bah) as precisely as reasonably possible. The simplest check in Sidi Bel Abbes is a local mosque: its mihrab and prayer lines already point to the Qibla. See the mosques of Sidi Bel Abbes. At home, mark the direction once with tape or a small arrow so the whole family prays the same way.
Why a flat map shows a different direction
A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Sidi Bel Abbes to Mecca points to 111.2° (east), 10.9° away from the correct 100.3°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 21 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.
The angle on this page is the initial bearing of the great circle from 35.1899° N, 0.6309° W to the Kaaba (21.4225° N, 39.8262° E). It is the method used by mosque architects and by every serious Qibla calculator, and it gives one exact answer for each point on Earth.
Distance from Sidi Bel Abbes to Mecca and Medina
Mecca is 4,211 km from Sidi Bel Abbes as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 4,030 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 5 h 27 min, although most pilgrims from Sidi Bel Abbes connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.
Clocks in Sidi Bel Abbes run 2 hours behind Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Sidi Bel Abbes rather than those of Mecca.
Finding the Qibla with the sun in Sidi Bel Abbes
On 217 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Sidi Bel Abbes while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in May (31 days); for example, on 15 March 2027 it happens at 08:10 local time.
On 129 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 May (31 days), for instance on 1 May 2027 at 18:44.
| 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 | — | — |
| 15 March 2027 | 08:10 | — |
| 1 April 2027 | 08:41 | — |
| 15 April 2027 | 09:06 | — |
| 1 May 2027 | 09:35 | 18:44 |
| 15 May 2027 | 09:59 | 18:18 |
| 1 June 2027 | 10:23 | 17:57 |
| 15 June 2027 | 10:35 | 17:50 |
| 1 July 2027 | 10:37 | 17:56 |
| 15 July 2027 | 10:27 | 18:10 |
| 1 August 2027 | 10:03 | 18:35 |
| 15 August 2027 | 09:36 | 18:58 |
| 1 September 2027 | 08:58 | — |
| 15 September 2027 | 08:25 | — |
| 1 October 2027 | 07:45 | — |
| 15 October 2027 | — | — |
| 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 Sidi Bel Abbes: at 10:18 and 10:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.
Sidi Bel Abbes compared with other cities
Compared with Algiers, 376 km away, the Qibla in Sidi Bel Abbes is turned 5.1° further anticlockwise (100.3° against 105.4°), and Mecca is 288 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Oran (57 km), prays towards 100.9°, a difference of 0.6°.
Across the 38 cities in Algeria on this site, the Qibla ranges from 94.7° in Béchar to 110.2° in Annaba, a spread of 15.5°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.
See all cities on the Qibla page for Algeria.
Qibla in cities near Sidi Bel Abbes
Qibla in Sidi Bel Abbes: questions and answers
What is the Qibla direction in Sidi Bel Abbes?
It is 100.3° from true north, which is east: 10.3° south of east.
How far is Sidi Bel Abbes from Mecca?
4,211 km in a straight line over the globe, and 4,030 km to Medina.
When does the sun show the Qibla in Sidi Bel Abbes?
On 217 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 Sidi Bel Abbes not the direction shown on a map?
Flat maps distort directions. The line on a map points to 111.2°, but the shortest route on the globe leaves Sidi Bel Abbes at 100.3°, and that is the Qibla.
Does the Qibla change during the year?
No. The direction of 100.3° is fixed; only the times when the sun lines up with it change from day to day.