Qibla · Mazandaran
Qibla direction in Āmol
To face the Kaaba in Āmol, turn to 219.3° measured clockwise from true north, which is south-west (39.3° west of south). The Sacred Mosque in Mecca lies 2,066 km away along the shortest path over the globe, and this is the direction the mihrabs of the mosques in Āmol should follow.
On the compass the green needle points to 219.3°. If your phone shows true north, rotate until the heading reads 219°; with a classic magnetic compass, first correct for the local magnetic declination, which can shift the needle by several degrees.
Find the Qibla with your phone
How to face the Qibla in Āmol
Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 39.3° towards west: the result is the bearing of 219.3°. Because the angle sits far from the cardinal points, a rough guess such as “south” would be off by more than 30°, which is why a measured bearing matters in Āmol.
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. The simplest check in Āmol is a local mosque: its mihrab and prayer lines already point to the Qibla. See the mosques of Āmol. 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
A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Āmol to Mecca points to 215.9° (south-west), 3.4° away from the correct 219.3°. 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 angle on this page is the initial bearing of the great circle from 36.4696° N, 52.3507° 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 Āmol to Mecca and Medina
Mecca is 2,066 km from Āmol as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 1,805 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 2 h 56 min, although most pilgrims from Āmol connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.
Clocks in Āmol 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 Āmol rather than those of Mecca.
Finding the Qibla with the sun in Āmol
On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Āmol 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 14:46 local time.
The sun is never opposite the Qibla of Āmol during daylight, so the shadow method does not apply here; the left-hand column is the one to use.
| Date | Sun in the Qibla direction (face the sun) | Sun opposite (shadows point to the Qibla) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January 2027 | 14:46 | — |
| 15 January 2027 | 14:47 | — |
| 1 February 2027 | 14:40 | — |
| 15 February 2027 | 14:29 | — |
| 1 March 2027 | 14:15 | — |
| 15 March 2027 | 13:59 | — |
| 1 April 2027 | 13:38 | — |
| 15 April 2027 | 13:21 | — |
| 1 May 2027 | 13:05 | — |
| 15 May 2027 | 12:54 | — |
| 1 June 2027 | 12:47 | — |
| 15 June 2027 | 12:46 | — |
| 1 July 2027 | 12:50 | — |
| 15 July 2027 | 12:56 | — |
| 1 August 2027 | 13:06 | — |
| 15 August 2027 | 13:15 | — |
| 1 September 2027 | 13:25 | — |
| 15 September 2027 | 13:33 | — |
| 1 October 2027 | 13:42 | — |
| 15 October 2027 | 13:51 | — |
| 1 November 2027 | 14:03 | — |
| 15 November 2027 | 14:15 | — |
| 1 December 2027 | 14:28 | — |
| 15 December 2027 | 14:38 | — |
Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Āmol: at 12:48 and 12:57 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.
Āmol compared with other cities
Compared with Tehran, 120 km away, the Qibla in Āmol is turned 0.8° further clockwise (219.3° against 218.5°), and Mecca is 120 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Babol (31 km), prays towards 220.0°, a difference of 0.6°.
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 Āmol
Qibla in Āmol: questions and answers
What is the Qibla direction in Āmol?
It is 219.3° from true north, which is south-west: 39.3° west of south.
How far is Āmol from Mecca?
2,066 km in a straight line over the globe, and 1,805 km to Medina.
When does the sun show the Qibla in Āmol?
On 365 days of 2027 the sun stands in the Qibla direction; the table on this page gives the exact time for the 1st and 15th of each month.
Why is the Qibla in Āmol not the direction shown on a map?
Flat maps distort directions. The line on a map points to 215.9°, but the shortest route on the globe leaves Āmol at 219.3°, and that is the Qibla.
Does the Qibla change during the year?
No. The direction of 219.3° is fixed; only the times when the sun lines up with it change from day to day.
