Qibla direction in Shahr-e Ṣadrā

How to face the Qibla in Shahr-e Ṣadrā

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards west and move a further 33.3° towards south: the result is the bearing of 236.7°. Because the angle sits far from the cardinal points, a rough guess such as “west” would be off by more than 30°, which is why a measured bearing matters in Shahr-e Ṣadrā.

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 Shahr-e Ṣadrā, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. Any of the mosques of Shahr-e Ṣadrā 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

A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Shahr-e Ṣadrā to Mecca points to 233.7° (south-west), 2.9° away from the correct 236.7°. 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.

How is the figure of 236.7° obtained? From the coordinates of Shahr-e Ṣadrā (29.7997° N, 52.5022° 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 Shahr-e Ṣadrā to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 1,574 km from Shahr-e Ṣadrā as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 1,405 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 2 h 21 min, although most pilgrims from Shahr-e Ṣadrā connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Shahr-e Ṣadrā 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 Shahr-e Ṣadrā rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Shahr-e Ṣadrā

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Shahr-e Ṣadrā 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 16:18 local time.

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

Shahr-e Ṣadrā compared with other cities

Compared with Tehran, 663 km away, the Qibla in Shahr-e Ṣadrā is turned 18.2° further clockwise (236.7° against 218.5°), and Mecca is 372 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Shiraz (21 km), prays towards 237.4°, a difference of 0.7°.

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 Shahr-e Ṣadrā

• Shiraz237.4° · 21 km
• Marvdasht237.1° · 30 km
• Kāzerūn235.2° · 84 km
• Borazjan235.2° · 137 km
• Jahrom243.4° · 177 km
• Bushire235.3° · 186 km