Qibla direction in Kolwezi

How to face the Qibla in Kolwezi

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards north and move a further 23.7° towards east: the result is the bearing of 23.7°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at north would leave you about 24° 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 Kolwezi, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. A nearby mosque is a handy reference, because its 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

On a flat (Mercator) map, the straight line from Kolwezi to Mecca points to 23.7°, only 0.0° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 23.7° bearing remains the exact one.

How is the figure of 23.7° obtained? From the coordinates of Kolwezi (10.7148° S, 25.4667° 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 Kolwezi to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 3,902 km from Kolwezi as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 4,203 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 5 h 05 min, although most pilgrims from Kolwezi connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Kolwezi run 1 hour behind Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Kolwezi rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Kolwezi

On 243 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Kolwezi 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 12:25 local time.

On 122 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 12:45.

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

Kolwezi compared with other cities

Compared with Kinshasa, 1,325 km away, the Qibla in Kolwezi is turned 18.4° further anticlockwise (23.7° against 42.1°), and Mecca is 13 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Likasi (142 km), prays towards 21.6°, a difference of 2.0°.

Across the 37 cities in the DR Congo on this site, the Qibla ranges from 20.2° in Lubumbashi to 45.4° in Gemena, a spread of 25.2°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for DR Congo.

Qibla in cities near Kolwezi

• Likasi21.6° · 142 km
• Bukama24.0° · 173 km
• Kamina25.6° · 226 km
• Kipushi20.5° · 227 km
• Lubumbashi20.2° · 243 km
• Tshilenge27.2° · 282 km