Qibla · An Nuqat al Khams
Qibla direction in Al Ajaylat
To face the Kaaba in Al Ajaylat, turn to 108.0° measured clockwise from true north, which is east (18.0° south of east). The Sacred Mosque in Mecca lies 2,983 km away along the shortest path over the globe, and this is the direction the mihrabs of the mosques in Al Ajaylat should follow.
Line up the top of your phone or compass with the green needle: it marks 108.0°, the Qibla of Al Ajaylat. Phone compasses usually display true north, so a reading of 108° is all you need; a needle compass reads magnetic north and needs the local declination added or subtracted first.
Find the Qibla with your phone
How to face the Qibla in Al Ajaylat
Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 18.0° towards south: the result is the bearing of 108.0°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at east would leave you about 18° 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 Al Ajaylat, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. Any of the mosques of Al Ajaylat 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
A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Al Ajaylat to Mecca points to 114.9° (south-east), 6.9° away from the correct 108.0°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 6 km longer than the true shortest route. The Qibla follows the great circle, the shortest path on the curved Earth, which is why the bearing differs.
How is the figure of 108.0° obtained? From the coordinates of Al Ajaylat (32.7572° N, 12.3763° 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 Al Ajaylat to Mecca and Medina
Mecca is 2,983 km from Al Ajaylat as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 2,804 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 4 h 01 min, although most pilgrims from Al Ajaylat connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.
Clocks in Al Ajaylat run 1 hour behind Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Al Ajaylat rather than those of Mecca.
Finding the Qibla with the sun in Al Ajaylat
On 253 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Al Ajaylat while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in March (31 days); for example, on 1 March 2027 it happens at 08:46 local time.
On 85 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 July (31 days), for instance on 15 May 2027 at 19:22.
| Date | Sun in the Qibla direction (face the sun) | Sun opposite (shadows point to the Qibla) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January 2027 | — | — |
| 15 January 2027 | — | — |
| 1 February 2027 | — | — |
| 15 February 2027 | — | — |
| 1 March 2027 | 08:46 | — |
| 15 March 2027 | 09:12 | — |
| 1 April 2027 | 09:43 | — |
| 15 April 2027 | 10:08 | — |
| 1 May 2027 | 10:36 | — |
| 15 May 2027 | 10:59 | 19:22 |
| 1 June 2027 | 11:23 | 19:02 |
| 15 June 2027 | 11:35 | 18:55 |
| 1 July 2027 | 11:37 | 19:00 |
| 15 July 2027 | 11:27 | 19:14 |
| 1 August 2027 | 11:04 | 19:39 |
| 15 August 2027 | 10:37 | — |
| 1 September 2027 | 10:00 | — |
| 15 September 2027 | 09:26 | — |
| 1 October 2027 | 08:48 | — |
| 15 October 2027 | 08:15 | — |
| 1 November 2027 | — | — |
| 15 November 2027 | — | — |
| 1 December 2027 | — | — |
| 15 December 2027 | — | — |
Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Al Ajaylat: at 11:18 and 11:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.
Al Ajaylat compared with other cities
Compared with Tripoli, Libya, 77 km away, the Qibla in Al Ajaylat is turned 1.1° further anticlockwise (108.0° against 109.2°), and Mecca is 67 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Al Jumayl (31 km), prays towards 107.9°, a difference of 0.2°.
Across the 17 cities in Libya on this site, the Qibla ranges from 98.1° in Sabha to 123.1° in Tobruk, a spread of 25.0°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.
See all cities on the Qibla page for Libya.
Qibla in cities near Al Ajaylat
- Al Jumayl107.9° · 31 km
- Az Zawiyah108.4° · 33 km
- Janzūr108.9° · 60 km
- Qaşr Bin Ghashīr108.8° · 76 km
- Tripoli, Libya109.2° · 77 km
- Tājūrā’109.3° · 92 km
Qibla in Al Ajaylat: questions and answers
What is the Qibla direction in Al Ajaylat?
It is 108.0° from true north, which is east: 18.0° south of east.
How far is Al Ajaylat from Mecca?
2,983 km in a straight line over the globe, and 2,804 km to Medina.
When does the sun show the Qibla in Al Ajaylat?
On 253 days of 2027 the sun stands in the Qibla direction; the table on this page gives the exact time for the 1st and 15th of each month.
Why is the Qibla in Al Ajaylat not the direction shown on a map?
Flat maps distort directions. The line on a map points to 114.9°, but the shortest route on the globe leaves Al Ajaylat at 108.0°, and that is the Qibla.
Does the Qibla change during the year?
No. The direction of 108.0° is fixed; only the times when the sun lines up with it change from day to day.