Qibla direction in Sidon

How to face the Qibla in Sidon

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 19.1° towards east: the result is the bearing of 160.9°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at south would leave you about 19° 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 Sidon, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. Any of the mosques of Sidon 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 Sidon to Mecca points to 162.0°, only 1.1° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 160.9° bearing remains the exact one.

How is the figure of 160.9° obtained? From the coordinates of Sidon (33.5575° N, 35.3715° 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 Sidon to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 1,419 km from Sidon as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 1,091 km away. The distance is short enough that many pilgrims from Sidon travel to the Hijaz by road.

Clocks in Sidon run 1 hour behind Mecca in winter and the same time as Mecca in summer, because of daylight saving time. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Sidon rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Sidon

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Sidon 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 10:31 local time.

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

Sidon compared with other cities

Compared with Beirut, 39 km away, the Qibla in Sidon is turned 1.0° further anticlockwise (160.9° against 161.9°), and Mecca is 32 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Nabatiye et Tahta (22 km), prays towards 161.1°, a difference of 0.2°.

Across the 5 cities in Lebanon on this site, the Qibla ranges from 159.7° in Tyre to 163.9° in Tripoli, North Lebanon, Lebanon, a spread of 4.2°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Lebanon.

Qibla in cities near Sidon

• Nabatiye et Tahta161.1° · 22 km
• Tyre159.7° · 36 km
• Beirut161.9° · 39 km
• Tripoli, North Lebanon, Lebanon163.9° · 107 km