Qibla direction in Arish

How to face the Qibla in Arish

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 30.5° towards east: the result is the bearing of 149.5°. Because the angle sits far from the cardinal points, a rough guess such as “south” would be off by more than 30°, which is why a measured bearing matters in Arish.

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. If a mosque is nearby, its mihrab and prayer lines are the easiest reference, since they were set when the building was laid out. 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 Arish to Mecca points to 150.9°, only 1.4° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 149.5° bearing remains the exact one.

The angle on this page is the initial bearing of the great circle from 31.1316° N, 33.7984° 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 Arish to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 1,235 km from Arish as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 936 km away. The distance is short enough that many pilgrims from Arish travel to the Hijaz by road.

Clocks in Arish 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 Arish rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Arish

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Arish 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 09:53 local time.

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

Arish compared with other cities

Compared with Cairo, 271 km away, the Qibla in Arish is turned 13.3° further clockwise (149.5° against 136.2°), and Mecca is 53 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Port Said (143 km), prays towards 143.8°, a difference of 5.7°.

Among the 55 cities in Egypt on this site, Arish has the largest Qibla bearing; the smallest is 111.3° in Aswān. Across the country the direction varies by 38.2°.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Egypt.

Qibla in cities near Arish

• Port Said143.8° · 143 km
• Ismailia141.8° · 157 km
• Al Maţarīyah142.6° · 168 km
• Suez140.8° · 177 km
• Damietta142.4° · 191 km
• Abū Kabīr139.9° · 208 km