Qibla direction in Apodaca

How to face the Qibla in Apodaca

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards north and move a further 43.1° towards east: the result is the bearing of 43.1°. Because the angle sits far from the cardinal points, a rough guess such as “north” would be off by more than 40°, which is why a measured bearing matters in Apodaca.

The scholars distinguish two cases: the one who sees the Kaaba aims at the building itself, while the one who cannot see it, as anywhere in Apodaca, aims at its direction as well as he reasonably can. Comparing with the mihrab of a local mosque is a quick way to confirm the result. If you travel or move house, check the angle again, since it changes from place to place.

Why a flat map shows a different direction

This is a place where maps mislead badly: a straight line on a flat map from Apodaca to Mecca points to 91.9° (east), a full 48.8° away from the true Qibla of 43.1° (north-east). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 1,048 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from Apodaca first heads north-east, and that is the direction to face.

The value of 43.1° is the direction in which the shortest route from 25.7814° N, 100.1891° W sets off towards the Kaaba at 21.4225° N, 39.8262° E. Every accurate Qibla calculator, and the plans of well-oriented mosques, arrive at the same angle for this point.

Distance from Apodaca to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 13,222 km from Apodaca as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 12,952 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 16 h 03 min, although most pilgrims from Apodaca connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Apodaca run 9 hours behind Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Apodaca rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Apodaca

From Apodaca the sun never rises high in the Qibla direction of 43.1°, so you cannot simply face the sun. The opposite method works instead, as the right-hand column of the table shows.

On 365 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 15:30.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both happen at night in Apodaca (03:18 and 03:27 local time), so they cannot be used here. Instead, on 13 January 2027 at 15:29 and 28 November 2027 at 15:09 the sun is over the point opposite the Kaaba, and every vertical shadow in Apodaca points straight to Mecca.

Apodaca compared with other cities

Compared with Mexico City, 715 km away, the Qibla in Apodaca is turned 3.5° further anticlockwise (43.1° against 46.6°), and Mecca is 424 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Monterrey (17 km), prays towards 43.0°, a difference of 0.1°.

Across the 99 cities in Mexico on this site, the Qibla ranges from 25.5° in Rosarito to 54.2° in Chetumal, a spread of 28.7°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Mexico.

Qibla in cities near Apodaca

• Monterrey43.0° · 17 km
• Ciudad Benito Juárez43.2° · 18 km
• Saltillo42.6° · 89 km
• Monclova41.7° · 175 km
• Reynosa44.5° · 193 km
• Nuevo Laredo43.0° · 200 km