Qibla direction in Mashhad

How to face the Qibla in Mashhad

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards west and move a further 35.4° towards south: the result is the bearing of 234.6°. 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 Mashhad.

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 Mashhad, aims at its direction as well as he reasonably can. Comparing with the mihrab of one of the mosques of Mashhad 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 Mashhad to Mecca points to 229.2° (south-west), 5.3° away from the correct 234.6°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 3 km longer than 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 234.6° is the direction in which the shortest route from 36.2981° N, 59.6057° 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 Mashhad to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 2,529 km from Mashhad as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 2,318 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 3 h 29 min, although most pilgrims from Mashhad connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Mashhad 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 Mashhad rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Mashhad

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Mashhad 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 15:41 local time.

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

Mashhad compared with other cities

Compared with Tehran, 739 km away, the Qibla in Mashhad is turned 16.1° further clockwise (234.6° against 218.5°), and Mecca is 583 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Marāgheh, Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran (52 km), prays towards 235.5°, a difference of 1.0°.

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 Mashhad

• Marāgheh, Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran235.5° · 52 km
• Neyshabur233.3° · 73 km
• Torbat-e Ḩeydarīyeh235.9° · 119 km
• Qūchān231.1° · 133 km
• Kāshmar234.7° · 156 km
• Sabzawār231.3° · 173 km