Qibla direction in Qūchān

How to face the Qibla in Qūchān

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards west and move a further 38.9° towards south: the result is the bearing of 231.1°. 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 Qūchān.

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 Qūchān, aims at its direction as well as he reasonably can. Comparing with the mihrab of one of the mosques of Qūchān 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 Qūchān to Mecca points to 226.0° (south-west), 5.1° away from the correct 231.1°. 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 231.1° is the direction in which the shortest route from 37.1060° N, 58.5096° 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 Qūchān to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 2,506 km from Qūchān as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 2,280 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 3 h 27 min, although most pilgrims from Qūchān connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Qūchān 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 Qūchān rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Qūchān

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Qūchān 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 15:25 local time.

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

Qūchān compared with other cities

Compared with Tehran, 653 km away, the Qibla in Qūchān is turned 12.6° further clockwise (231.1° against 218.5°), and Mecca is 560 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Neyshabur (102 km), prays towards 233.3°, a difference of 2.2°.

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 Qūchān

• Neyshabur233.3° · 102 km
• Bojnourd228.2° · 112 km
• Sabzawār231.3° · 124 km
• Mashhad234.6° · 133 km
• Marāgheh, Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran235.5° · 174 km
• Kāshmar234.7° · 208 km