Qibla · Casablanca-Settat
Qibla direction in Dar Bouazza
To face the Kaaba in Dar Bouazza, turn to 93.5° measured clockwise from true north, which is east (3.5° south of east). The Sacred Mosque in Mecca lies 4,844 km away along the shortest path over the globe, and this is the direction the mihrabs of the mosques in Dar Bouazza should follow.
Line up the top of your phone or compass with the green needle: it marks 93.5°, the Qibla of Dar Bouazza. Phone compasses usually display true north, so a reading of 93° 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 Dar Bouazza
Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 3.5° towards south: the result is the bearing of 93.5°. The direction is close to due east, 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 Dar Bouazza, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. A nearby mosque is a handy reference, because its 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 Dar Bouazza to Mecca points to 106.0° (east), 12.5° away from the correct 93.5°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 32 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 93.5° obtained? From the coordinates of Dar Bouazza (33.5154° N, 7.8168° W) 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 Dar Bouazza to Mecca and Medina
Mecca is 4,844 km from Dar Bouazza as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 4,680 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 6 h 12 min, although most pilgrims from Dar Bouazza connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.
Clocks in Dar Bouazza run 3 hours behind Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Dar Bouazza rather than those of Mecca.
Finding the Qibla with the sun in Dar Bouazza
On 189 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Dar Bouazza 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 07:27 local time.
On 158 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 May (31 days), for instance on 15 April 2027 at 17:56.
| 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 | — | — |
| 15 March 2027 | — | — |
| 1 April 2027 | 07:27 | — |
| 15 April 2027 | 07:56 | 17:56 |
| 1 May 2027 | 08:29 | 17:18 |
| 15 May 2027 | 08:56 | 16:49 |
| 1 June 2027 | 09:24 | 16:24 |
| 15 June 2027 | 09:38 | 16:16 |
| 1 July 2027 | 09:40 | 16:21 |
| 15 July 2027 | 09:28 | 16:38 |
| 1 August 2027 | 09:00 | 17:06 |
| 15 August 2027 | 08:29 | 17:33 |
| 1 September 2027 | 07:47 | 18:07 |
| 15 September 2027 | 07:10 | — |
| 1 October 2027 | — | — |
| 15 October 2027 | — | — |
| 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 Dar Bouazza: at 09:18 and 09:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.
Dar Bouazza compared with other cities
Compared with Rabat, 107 km away, the Qibla in Dar Bouazza is turned 1.1° further anticlockwise (93.5° against 94.6°), and Mecca is 87 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Bouskoura (17 km), prays towards 93.5°, the same bearing to the tenth of a degree.
Across the 34 cities in Morocco on this site, the Qibla ranges from 87.7° in Guelmim to 98.7° in Oujda, a spread of 11.0°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.
See all cities on the Qibla page for Morocco.
Qibla in cities near Dar Bouazza
- Bouskoura93.5° · 17 km
- Casablanca93.7° · 21 km
- Berrechid93.4° · 35 km
- Mohammedia93.9° · 44 km
- Settat93.1° · 60 km
- El Jadida92.8° · 70 km
Qibla in Dar Bouazza: questions and answers
What is the Qibla direction in Dar Bouazza?
It is 93.5° from true north, which is east: 3.5° south of east.
How far is Dar Bouazza from Mecca?
4,844 km in a straight line over the globe, and 4,680 km to Medina.
When does the sun show the Qibla in Dar Bouazza?
On 189 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 Dar Bouazza not the direction shown on a map?
Flat maps distort directions. The line on a map points to 106.0°, but the shortest route on the globe leaves Dar Bouazza at 93.5°, and that is the Qibla.
Does the Qibla change during the year?
No. The direction of 93.5° is fixed; only the times when the sun lines up with it change from day to day.