Qibla direction in Brisbane

How to face the Qibla in Brisbane

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards west and move a further 10.3° towards north: the result is the bearing of 280.3°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at west would leave you about 10° off.

The scholars distinguish two cases: the one who sees the Kaaba aims at the building itself, while the one who cannot see it, as anywhere in Brisbane, aims at its direction as well as he reasonably can. Comparing with the mihrab of one of the mosques of Brisbane is a quick way to confirm the result. If you travel or move house, check the angle again, since it changes from place to place.

Why a flat map shows a different direction

A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Brisbane to Mecca points to 294.1° (north-west), 13.8° away from the correct 280.3°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 40 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 value of 280.3° is the direction in which the shortest route from 27.4679° S, 153.0281° E sets off towards the Kaaba at 21.4225° N, 39.8262° E. Every accurate Qibla calculator, and the plans of well-oriented mosques, arrive at the same angle for this point.

Distance from Brisbane to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 13,298 km from Brisbane as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 13,432 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 16 h 09 min, although most pilgrims from Brisbane connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Brisbane run 7 hours ahead of Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Brisbane rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Brisbane

On 217 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Brisbane while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in January (31 days); for example, on 1 January 2027 it happens at 13:07 local time.

On 123 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 07:44.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both happen at night in Brisbane (19:18 and 19:27 local time), so they cannot be used here. Instead, on 14 January 2027 at 07:29 and 29 November 2027 at 07:09 the sun is over the point opposite the Kaaba, and every vertical shadow in Brisbane points straight to Mecca.

Brisbane compared with other cities

Compared with Canberra, 944 km away, the Qibla in Brisbane is turned 2.5° further clockwise (280.3° against 277.8°), and Mecca is 230 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Logan City (21 km), prays towards 280.1°, a difference of 0.1°.

Across the 21 cities in Australia on this site, the Qibla ranges from 275.0° in Hobart to 295.5° in Mandurah, a spread of 20.5°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Australia.

Qibla in cities near Brisbane

• Logan City280.1° · 21 km
• Gold Coast279.8° · 71 km
• Sunshine Coast280.7° · 90 km
• Toowoomba280.6° · 106 km
• Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia277.7° · 619 km
• Central Coast277.7° · 682 km