Qibla direction in Duhok

How to face the Qibla in Duhok

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 10.9° towards west: the result is the bearing of 190.9°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at south would leave you about 11° off.

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 Duhok is a local mosque: its mihrab and prayer lines already point to the Qibla. See the mosques of Duhok. 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 Duhok to Mecca points to 190.1°, only 0.9° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 190.9° bearing remains the exact one.

The angle on this page is the initial bearing of the great circle from 36.8661° N, 42.9879° 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 Duhok to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 1,744 km from Duhok as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 1,416 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 2 h 33 min, although most pilgrims from Duhok connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Duhok 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 Duhok rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Duhok

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Duhok 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 12:53 local time.

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

Duhok compared with other cities

Compared with Baghdad, 413 km away, the Qibla in Duhok is turned 9.0° further anticlockwise (190.9° against 199.9°), and Mecca is 345 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Mosul (60 km), prays towards 191.8°, a difference of 0.8°.

Among the 40 cities in Iraq on this site, Duhok has the smallest Qibla bearing; the largest is 224.3° in Al Fāw. Across the country the direction varies by 33.4°.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Iraq.

Qibla in cities near Duhok

• Mosul191.8° · 60 km
• 'Ākra194.1° · 81 km
• Xebat193.7° · 89 km
• Erbil195.0° · 118 km
• Ash Sharqāt192.8° · 152 km
• Rānyah197.9° · 182 km