Qibla direction in Charleroi

How to face the Qibla in Charleroi

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 33.2° towards south: the result is the bearing of 123.2°. Because the angle sits far from the cardinal points, a rough guess such as “east” would be off by more than 30°, which is why a measured bearing matters in Charleroi.

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 Charleroi, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. Any of the mosques of Charleroi 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 Charleroi to Mecca points to 136.0° (south-east), 12.8° away from the correct 123.2°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 26 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 123.2° obtained? From the coordinates of Charleroi (50.4114° N, 4.4445° 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 Charleroi to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 4,457 km from Charleroi as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 4,170 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 5 h 45 min, although most pilgrims from Charleroi connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Charleroi run 2 hours behind Mecca in winter and 1 hour behind Mecca in summer, because of daylight saving time. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Charleroi rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Charleroi

On 285 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Charleroi 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 February 2027 it happens at 08:52 local time.

The sun is never opposite the Qibla of Charleroi during daylight, so the shadow method does not apply here; the left-hand column is the one to use.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Charleroi: at 11:18 and 11:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Charleroi compared with other cities

The Qibla here is practically the same as in Brussels (123.5°), and Mecca is 32 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Namur (31 km), prays towards 123.7°, a difference of 0.6°.

Across the 8 cities in Belgium on this site, the Qibla ranges from 122.5° in Bruges to 124.7° in Liège, a spread of 2.2°. The difference is small, yet each city should still use its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Belgium.

Qibla in cities near Charleroi

• Namur123.7° · 31 km
• Brussels123.5° · 49 km
• Leuven123.9° · 55 km
• Liège124.7° · 83 km
• Ghent122.9° · 88 km
• Antwerp123.9° · 90 km