Qibla direction in Lawang

How to face the Qibla in Lawang

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards west and move a further 24.2° towards north: the result is the bearing of 294.2°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at west would leave you about 24° off.

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 Lawang, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. Any of the mosques of Lawang is a handy reference, because the 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 Lawang to Mecca points to 292.2°, only 1.9° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 294.2° bearing remains the exact one.

How is the figure of 294.2° obtained? From the coordinates of Lawang (7.8353° S, 112.6947° 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 Lawang to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 8,582 km from Lawang as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 8,686 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 10 h 36 min, although most pilgrims from Lawang connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Lawang run 4 hours ahead of Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Lawang rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Lawang

On 210 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Lawang 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 March 2027 it happens at 12:27 local time.

On 138 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 08:25.

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

Lawang compared with other cities

Compared with Jakarta, 670 km away, the Qibla in Lawang is turned 1.0° further anticlockwise (294.2° against 295.2°), and Mecca is 662 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Malang (18 km), prays towards 294.2°, the same bearing to the tenth of a degree.

Across the 140 cities in Indonesia on this site, the Qibla ranges from 290.2° in Merauke to 295.5° in Pelabuhanratu, a spread of 5.3°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Indonesia.

Qibla in cities near Lawang

• Malang294.2° · 18 km
• Batu294.2° · 19 km
• Pasuruan294.1° · 32 km
• Sidoarjo294.1° · 43 km
• Mojokerto294.1° · 50 km
• Pare294.3° · 55 km