Qibla direction in Awasa

How to face the Qibla in Awasa

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards north and move a further 5.1° towards east: the result is the bearing of 5.1°. The direction is close to due north, which makes it easy to remember.

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 Awasa to Mecca points to 5.2°, only 0.1° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 5.1° bearing remains the exact one.

The angle on this page is the initial bearing of the great circle from 7.0621° N, 38.4764° 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 Awasa to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 1,603 km from Awasa as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 1,939 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 2 h 23 min, although most pilgrims from Awasa connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Awasa run the same time as Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Awasa rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Awasa

On 150 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Awasa while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in May (31 days); for example, on 15 April 2027 it happens at 12:25 local time.

On 215 days the sun stands exactly opposite the Qibla: then the shadow of any vertical object, a pole, a door frame or a plumb line, points straight towards Mecca. This is most frequent in January (31 days), for instance on 1 January 2027 at 12:41.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Awasa: at 12:18 and 12:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Awasa compared with other cities

The Qibla here is practically the same as in Addis Ababa (4.7°), and Mecca is 220 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Shashamane (21 km), prays towards 4.6°, a difference of 0.4°.

Across the 28 cities in Ethiopia on this site, the Qibla ranges from 1.0° in Dessie to 350.8° in Dire Dawa, a spread of 349.8°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Ethiopia.

Qibla in cities near Awasa

• Shashamane4.6° · 21 km
• Dīla5.4° · 74 km
• Sodo7.6° · 82 km
• Hosa’ina7.6° · 88 km
• Āsela2.8° · 122 km
• Arba Minch7.9° · 153 km