Qibla direction in Zarqa

How to face the Qibla in Zarqa

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 18.3° towards east: the result is the bearing of 161.7°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at south would leave you about 18° 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 Zarqa is a local mosque: its mihrab and prayer lines already point to the Qibla. See the mosques of Zarqa. 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 Zarqa to Mecca points to 162.6°, only 0.9° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 161.7° bearing remains the exact one.

The angle on this page is the initial bearing of the great circle from 32.0728° N, 36.0880° 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 Zarqa to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 1,241 km from Zarqa as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 913 km away. The distance is short enough that many pilgrims from Zarqa travel to the Hijaz by road.

Clocks in Zarqa 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 Zarqa rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Zarqa

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Zarqa 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 11:32 local time.

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

Zarqa compared with other cities

Compared with Amman, 19 km away, the Qibla in Zarqa is turned 0.9° further clockwise (161.7° against 160.9°), and Mecca is 8 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Amman (19 km), prays towards 160.9°, a difference of 0.9°.

Among the 5 cities in Jordan on this site, Zarqa has the largest Qibla bearing; the smallest is 160.0° in Salt. Across the country the direction varies by 1.7°.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Jordan.

Qibla in cities near Zarqa

• Amman160.9° · 19 km
• Salt160.0° · 34 km
• Ajloun160.6° · 43 km
• Irbid161.4° · 58 km