Qibla direction in Nasiriyah

How to face the Qibla in Nasiriyah

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 32.4° towards west: the result is the bearing of 212.4°. 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 Nasiriyah.

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 Nasiriyah is a local mosque: its mihrab and prayer lines already point to the Qibla. See the mosques of Nasiriyah. 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

On a flat (Mercator) map, the straight line from Nasiriyah to Mecca points to 210.9°, only 1.5° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 212.4° bearing remains the exact one.

The angle on this page is the initial bearing of the great circle from 31.0580° N, 46.2573° 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 Nasiriyah to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 1,248 km from Nasiriyah as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 982 km away. The distance is short enough that many pilgrims from Nasiriyah travel to the Hijaz by road.

Clocks in Nasiriyah 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 Nasiriyah rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Nasiriyah

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Nasiriyah 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 14:02 local time.

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

Nasiriyah compared with other cities

Compared with Baghdad, 308 km away, the Qibla in Nasiriyah is turned 12.5° further clockwise (212.4° against 199.9°), and Mecca is 152 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Ash Shaţrah (40 km), prays towards 211.1°, a difference of 1.3°.

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 Nasiriyah

• Ash Shaţrah211.1° · 40 km
• Qal‘at Sukkar209.6° · 91 km
• Samawah207.6° · 97 km
• Al Madīnah216.7° · 97 km
• Al Qurnah217.2° · 112 km
• Amarah213.9° · 121 km