Qibla direction in Menongue

How to face the Qibla in Menongue

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards north and move a further 31.5° towards east: the result is the bearing of 31.5°. Because the angle sits far from the cardinal points, a rough guess such as “north” would be off by more than 30°, which is why a measured bearing matters in Menongue.

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. If a mosque is nearby, its mihrab and prayer lines are the easiest reference, since they were set when the building was laid out. 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

On a flat (Mercator) map, the straight line from Menongue to Mecca points to 31.1°, only 0.5° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 31.5° bearing remains the exact one.

The angle on this page is the initial bearing of the great circle from 14.6585° S, 17.6910° E 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 Menongue to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 4,683 km from Menongue as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 4,959 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 6 h 01 min, although most pilgrims from Menongue connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Menongue 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 Menongue rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Menongue

On 265 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Menongue 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 15 February 2027 it happens at 11:58 local time.

On 100 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 January (31 days), for instance on 1 January 2027 at 12:15.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Menongue: at 10:18 and 10:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Menongue compared with other cities

Compared with Luanda, 809 km away, the Qibla in Menongue is turned 8.9° further anticlockwise (31.5° against 40.4°), and Mecca is 239 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Cuito (266 km), prays towards 33.8°, a difference of 2.3°.

Across the 30 cities in Angola on this site, the Qibla ranges from 30.6° in Luena to 44.2° in Cabinda, a spread of 13.6°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Angola.

Qibla in cities near Menongue

• Cuito33.8° · 266 km
• Catchiungo34.5° · 281 km
• Huambo34.9° · 297 km
• Caála35.1° · 305 km
• Ondjiva32.4° · 340 km
• Luena30.6° · 400 km