Qibla direction in Mīāneh

How to face the Qibla in Mīāneh

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 25.3° towards west: the result is the bearing of 205.3°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at south would leave you about 25° off.

The scholars distinguish two cases: the one who sees the Kaaba aims at the building itself, while the one who cannot see it, as anywhere in Mīāneh, aims at its direction as well as he reasonably can. Comparing with the mihrab of one of the mosques of Mīāneh is a quick way to confirm the result. If you travel or move house, check the angle again, since it changes from place to place.

Why a flat map shows a different direction

A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Mīāneh to Mecca points to 203.1° (south-west), 2.2° away from the correct 205.3°. 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.

The value of 205.3° is the direction in which the shortest route from 37.4210° N, 47.7150° E sets off towards the Kaaba at 21.4225° N, 39.8262° E. Every accurate Qibla calculator, and the plans of well-oriented mosques, arrive at the same angle for this point.

Distance from Mīāneh to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 1,934 km from Mīāneh as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 1,633 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 2 h 47 min, although most pilgrims from Mīāneh connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Mīāneh run 0.5 hours ahead of Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Mīāneh rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Mīāneh

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Mīāneh 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 14:02 local time.

The sun is never opposite the Qibla of Mīāneh 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 Mīāneh: at 12:48 and 12:57 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Mīāneh compared with other cities

Compared with Tehran, 383 km away, the Qibla in Mīāneh is turned 13.2° further anticlockwise (205.3° against 218.5°), and Mecca is 12 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Ardabil (105 km), prays towards 205.8°, a difference of 0.5°.

Across the 90 cities in Iran on this site, the Qibla ranges from 195.9° in Khoy to 257.6° in Iranshahr, a spread of 61.7°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Iran.

Qibla in cities near Mīāneh

• Ardabil205.8° · 105 km
• Zanjan208.7° · 108 km
• Ahar202.1° · 130 km
• Marāgheh, East Azerbaijan Province, Iran200.9° · 130 km
• Tabriz200.3° · 145 km
• Mīāndoāb201.1° · 151 km