Qibla direction in Nairobi

How to face the Qibla in Nairobi

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards north and move a further 7.2° towards east: the result is the bearing of 7.2°. The direction is close to due north, which makes it easy to remember.

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 Nairobi, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. Any of the mosques of Nairobi 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 Nairobi to Mecca points to 7.4°, only 0.2° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 7.2° bearing remains the exact one.

How is the figure of 7.2° obtained? From the coordinates of Nairobi (1.2833° S, 36.8167° 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 Nairobi to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 2,546 km from Nairobi as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 2,879 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 3 h 30 min, although most pilgrims from Nairobi connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Nairobi 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 Nairobi rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Nairobi

On 192 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Nairobi while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in May (31 days); for example, on 1 April 2027 it happens at 12:34 local time.

On 171 days the sun stands exactly opposite the Qibla: then the shadow of any vertical object, a pole, a door frame or a plumb line, points straight towards Mecca. This is most frequent in January (31 days), for instance on 1 January 2027 at 12:48.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Nairobi: at 12:18 and 12:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Nairobi compared with other cities

The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Kikuyu (18 km), prays towards 7.6°, a difference of 0.4°.

Across the 20 cities in Kenya on this site, the Qibla ranges from 0.4° in Mombasa to 359.4° in Malindi, a spread of 359.0°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Kenya.

Qibla in cities near Nairobi

• Kikuyu7.6° · 18 km
• Ruiru6.9° · 22 km
• Kitengela6.8° · 27 km
• Thika6.7° · 40 km
• Mwala5.7° · 71 km
• Naivasha8.3° · 76 km