Qibla · Minya Governorate
Qibla direction in Samālūţ
To face the Kaaba in Samālūţ, turn to 127.8° measured clockwise from true north, which is south-east (37.8° south of east). The Sacred Mosque in Mecca lies 1,196 km away along the shortest path over the globe, and this is the direction the mihrabs of the mosques in Samālūţ should follow.
Line up the top of your phone or compass with the green needle: it marks 127.8°, the Qibla of Samālūţ. Phone compasses usually display true north, so a reading of 128° is all you need; a needle compass reads magnetic north and needs the local declination added or subtracted first.
Find the Qibla with your phone
How to face the Qibla in Samālūţ
Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 37.8° towards south: the result is the bearing of 127.8°. 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 Samālūţ.
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 Samālūţ, 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
A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Samālūţ to Mecca points to 129.8° (south-east), 2.0° away from the correct 127.8°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is not 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 127.8° obtained? From the coordinates of Samālūţ (28.3121° N, 30.7101° 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 Samālūţ to Mecca and Medina
Mecca is 1,196 km from Samālūţ as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 984 km away. The distance is short enough that many pilgrims from Samālūţ travel to the Hijaz by road.
Clocks in Samālūţ 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 Samālūţ rather than those of Mecca.
Finding the Qibla with the sun in Samālūţ
On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Samālūţ 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 08:18 local time.
The sun is never opposite the Qibla of Samālūţ during daylight, so the shadow method does not apply here; the left-hand column is the one to use.
| Date | Sun in the Qibla direction (face the sun) | Sun opposite (shadows point to the Qibla) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January 2027 | 08:18 | — |
| 15 January 2027 | 08:33 | — |
| 1 February 2027 | 08:55 | — |
| 15 February 2027 | 09:15 | — |
| 1 March 2027 | 09:34 | — |
| 15 March 2027 | 09:52 | — |
| 1 April 2027 | 10:13 | — |
| 15 April 2027 | 10:30 | — |
| 1 May 2027 | 11:49 | — |
| 15 May 2027 | 12:05 | — |
| 1 June 2027 | 12:22 | — |
| 15 June 2027 | 12:30 | — |
| 1 July 2027 | 12:33 | — |
| 15 July 2027 | 12:27 | — |
| 1 August 2027 | 12:11 | — |
| 15 August 2027 | 11:52 | — |
| 1 September 2027 | 11:24 | — |
| 15 September 2027 | 10:59 | — |
| 1 October 2027 | 10:29 | — |
| 15 October 2027 | 10:04 | — |
| 1 November 2027 | 08:37 | — |
| 15 November 2027 | 08:21 | — |
| 1 December 2027 | 08:09 | — |
| 15 December 2027 | 08:08 | — |
Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Samālūţ: at 12:18 and 12:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.
Samālūţ compared with other cities
Compared with Cairo, 202 km away, the Qibla in Samālūţ is turned 8.5° further anticlockwise (127.8° against 136.2°), and Mecca is 92 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Banī Mazār (22 km), prays towards 128.9°, a difference of 1.1°.
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 Samālūţ
Qibla in Samālūţ: questions and answers
What is the Qibla direction in Samālūţ?
It is 127.8° from true north, which is south-east: 37.8° south of east.
How far is Samālūţ from Mecca?
1,196 km in a straight line over the globe, and 984 km to Medina.
When does the sun show the Qibla in Samālūţ?
On 365 days of 2027 the sun stands in the Qibla direction; the table on this page gives the exact time for the 1st and 15th of each month.
Is the Qibla the same everywhere in Egypt?
No. It ranges from 111.3° to 149.5° across the country, so each city has its own bearing.
Does the Qibla change during the year?
No. The direction of 127.8° is fixed; only the times when the sun lines up with it change from day to day.