Qibla direction in Qina

How to face the Qibla in Qina

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 34.6° towards south: the result is the bearing of 124.6°. 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 Qina.

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 Qina to Mecca points to 126.1°, only 1.5° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 124.6° bearing remains the exact one.

The angle on this page is the initial bearing of the great circle from 26.1642° N, 32.7267° 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 Qina to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 894 km from Qina as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 717 km away. The distance is short enough that many pilgrims from Qina travel to the Hijaz by road.

Clocks in Qina 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 Qina rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Qina

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Qina 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 07:51 local time.

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

Qina compared with other cities

Compared with Cairo, 457 km away, the Qibla in Qina is turned 11.6° further anticlockwise (124.6° against 136.2°), and Mecca is 394 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Luxor (52 km), prays towards 121.5°, a difference of 3.1°.

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 Qina

• Luxor121.5° · 52 km
• Jirja122.5° · 85 km
• Esna118.6° · 98 km
• Sohag122.9° · 112 km
• Ţahţā123.4° · 139 km
• Ţimā123.8° · 153 km