Qibla direction in Helwan

How to face the Qibla in Helwan

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 44.3° towards east: the result is the bearing of 135.7°. Because the angle sits far from the cardinal points, a rough guess such as “south” would be off by more than 40°, which is why a measured bearing matters in Helwan.

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. The simplest check in Helwan is a local mosque: its mihrab and prayer lines already point to the Qibla. See the mosques of Helwan. 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 Helwan to Mecca points to 137.6°, only 2.0° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 135.7° bearing remains the exact one.

The angle on this page is the initial bearing of the great circle from 29.8414° N, 31.3008° 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 Helwan to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 1,267 km from Helwan as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 1,016 km away. The distance is short enough that many pilgrims from Helwan travel to the Hijaz by road.

Clocks in Helwan 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 Helwan rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Helwan

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Helwan 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 08:59 local time.

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

Helwan compared with other cities

Compared with Cairo, 25 km away, the Qibla in Helwan is turned 0.6° further anticlockwise (135.7° against 136.2°), and Mecca is 21 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, 6th of October City (24 km), prays towards 134.7°, a difference of 1.0°.

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 Helwan

• 6th of October City134.7° · 24 km
• Cairo136.2° · 25 km
• New Cairo136.9° · 27 km
• Al-'Ubūr137.6° · 46 km
• Ashmūn136.1° · 60 km
• Al ‘Āshir min Ramaḑān138.8° · 66 km