Qibla direction in Mallawī

How to face the Qibla in Mallawī

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 35.7° towards south: the result is the bearing of 125.7°. 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 Mallawī.

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 Mallawī, 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 Mallawī to Mecca points to 127.7°, only 2.0° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 125.7° bearing remains the exact one.

How is the figure of 125.7° obtained? From the coordinates of Mallawī (27.7326° N, 30.8413° 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 Mallawī to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 1,147 km from Mallawī as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 948 km away. The distance is short enough that many pilgrims from Mallawī travel to the Hijaz by road.

Clocks in Mallawī 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 Mallawī rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Mallawī

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Mallawī 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 08:04 local time.

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

Mallawī compared with other cities

Compared with Cairo, 262 km away, the Qibla in Mallawī is turned 10.5° further anticlockwise (125.7° against 136.2°), and Mecca is 141 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Dayrūţ (20 km), prays towards 124.8°, a difference of 0.9°.

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 Mallawī

• Dayrūţ124.8° · 20 km
• Minya127.0° · 41 km
• Manfalūţ124.2° · 48 km
• Samālūţ127.8° · 66 km
• Asyut124.3° · 70 km
• Banī Mazār128.9° · 85 km