Qibla direction in Al Qurnah

How to face the Qibla in Al Qurnah

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 37.2° towards west: the result is the bearing of 217.2°. 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 Al Qurnah.

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 Al Qurnah, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. A nearby mosque is a handy reference, because its 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

On a flat (Mercator) map, the straight line from Al Qurnah to Mecca points to 215.4°, only 1.8° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 217.2° bearing remains the exact one.

How is the figure of 217.2° obtained? From the coordinates of Al Qurnah (31.0155° N, 47.4336° 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 Al Qurnah to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 1,308 km from Al Qurnah as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 1,059 km away. The distance is short enough that many pilgrims from Al Qurnah travel to the Hijaz by road.

Clocks in Al Qurnah run the same time as Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Al Qurnah rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Al Qurnah

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Al Qurnah 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 14:19 local time.

The sun is never opposite the Qibla of Al Qurnah 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 Al Qurnah: at 12:18 and 12:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Al Qurnah compared with other cities

Compared with Baghdad, 385 km away, the Qibla in Al Qurnah is turned 17.3° further clockwise (217.2° against 199.9°), and Mecca is 91 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Al Madīnah (17 km), prays towards 216.7°, a difference of 0.5°.

Across the 40 cities in Iraq on this site, the Qibla ranges from 190.9° in Duhok to 224.3° in Al Fāw, a spread of 33.4°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Iraq.

Qibla in cities near Al Qurnah

• Al Madīnah216.7° · 17 km
• Basra220.0° · 65 km
• Amarah213.9° · 95 km
• Nasiriyah212.4° · 112 km
• Umm Qaşr222.1° · 118 km
• Ash Shaţrah211.1° · 128 km