Qibla direction in Xebat

How to face the Qibla in Xebat

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 13.7° towards west: the result is the bearing of 193.7°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at south would leave you about 14° off.

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 Xebat, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. Any of the mosques of Xebat is a handy reference, because the 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 Xebat to Mecca points to 192.7°, only 1.0° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 193.7° bearing remains the exact one.

How is the figure of 193.7° obtained? From the coordinates of Xebat (36.2780° N, 43.6707° 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 Xebat to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 1,693 km from Xebat as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 1,369 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 2 h 30 min, although most pilgrims from Xebat connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Xebat 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 Xebat rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Xebat

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Xebat 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 13:01 local time.

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

Xebat compared with other cities

Compared with Baghdad, 333 km away, the Qibla in Xebat is turned 6.2° further anticlockwise (193.7° against 199.9°), and Mecca is 294 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Erbil (32 km), prays towards 195.0°, 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 Xebat

• Erbil195.0° · 32 km
• Mosul191.8° · 50 km
• 'Ākra194.1° · 54 km
• Duhok190.9° · 89 km
• Ash Sharqāt192.8° · 94 km
• Rānyah197.9° · 109 km