Qibla direction in Manfalūţ

How to face the Qibla in Manfalūţ

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 34.2° towards south: the result is the bearing of 124.2°. 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 Manfalūţ.

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 Manfalūţ, 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 Manfalūţ to Mecca points to 126.2°, only 1.9° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 124.2° bearing remains the exact one.

How is the figure of 124.2° obtained? From the coordinates of Manfalūţ (27.3126° N, 30.9699° 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 Manfalūţ to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 1,110 km from Manfalūţ as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 920 km away. The distance is short enough that many pilgrims from Manfalūţ travel to the Hijaz by road.

Clocks in Manfalūţ run 1 hour behind Mecca in winter and the same time as 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 Manfalūţ rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Manfalūţ

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Manfalūţ 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 07:54 local time.

The sun is never opposite the Qibla of Manfalūţ 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 Manfalūţ: at 12:18 and 12:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Manfalūţ compared with other cities

Compared with Cairo, 307 km away, the Qibla in Manfalūţ is turned 12.0° further anticlockwise (124.2° against 136.2°), and Mecca is 178 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Asyut (26 km), prays towards 124.3°, a difference of 0.1°.

Across the 55 cities in Egypt on this site, the Qibla ranges from 111.3° in Aswān to 149.5° in Arish, a spread of 38.2°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Egypt.

Qibla in cities near Manfalūţ

• Asyut124.3° · 26 km
• Dayrūţ124.8° · 31 km
• Abū Tīj124.1° · 46 km
• Mallawī125.7° · 48 km
• Ţimā123.8° · 64 km
• Ţahţā123.4° · 80 km