Qibla · Osun State
Qibla direction in Ile-Ife
To face the Kaaba in Ile-Ife, turn to 63.9° measured clockwise from true north, which is north-east (26.1° north of east). The Sacred Mosque in Mecca lies 4,087 km away along the shortest path over the globe, and this is the direction the mihrabs of the mosques in Ile-Ife should follow.
Line up the top of your phone or compass with the green needle: it marks 63.9°, the Qibla of Ile-Ife. Phone compasses usually display true north, so a reading of 64° 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 Ile-Ife
Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 26.1° towards north: the result is the bearing of 63.9°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at east would leave you about 26° 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 Ile-Ife, 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 Ile-Ife to Mecca points to 67.7° (east), 3.8° away from the correct 63.9°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 4 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 63.9° obtained? From the coordinates of Ile-Ife (7.4824° N, 4.5603° 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 Ile-Ife to Mecca and Medina
Mecca is 4,087 km from Ile-Ife as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 4,176 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 5 h 19 min, although most pilgrims from Ile-Ife connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.
Clocks in Ile-Ife run 2 hours behind Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Ile-Ife rather than those of Mecca.
Finding the Qibla with the sun in Ile-Ife
On 148 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Ile-Ife 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 15 April 2027 it happens at 12:23 local time.
On 217 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 17:29.
| Date | Sun in the Qibla direction (face the sun) | Sun opposite (shadows point to the Qibla) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January 2027 | — | 17:29 |
| 15 January 2027 | — | 17:07 |
| 1 February 2027 | — | 16:22 |
| 15 February 2027 | — | 15:39 |
| 1 March 2027 | — | 14:54 |
| 15 March 2027 | — | 14:07 |
| 1 April 2027 | — | 13:09 |
| 15 April 2027 | 12:23 | — |
| 1 May 2027 | 11:31 | — |
| 15 May 2027 | 10:50 | — |
| 1 June 2027 | 10:10 | — |
| 15 June 2027 | 09:52 | — |
| 1 July 2027 | 09:59 | — |
| 15 July 2027 | 10:25 | — |
| 1 August 2027 | 11:10 | — |
| 15 August 2027 | 11:49 | — |
| 1 September 2027 | 12:35 | — |
| 15 September 2027 | — | 13:13 |
| 1 October 2027 | — | 13:56 |
| 15 October 2027 | — | 14:36 |
| 1 November 2027 | — | 15:26 |
| 15 November 2027 | — | 16:10 |
| 1 December 2027 | — | 16:57 |
| 15 December 2027 | — | 17:26 |
Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Ile-Ife: at 10:18 and 10:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.
Ile-Ife compared with other cities
Compared with Abuja, 367 km away, the Qibla in Ile-Ife is turned 0.6° further anticlockwise (63.9° against 64.6°), and Mecca is 367 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Gbongan (23 km), prays towards 64.0°, a difference of 0.1°.
Across the 90 cities in Nigeria on this site, the Qibla ranges from 58.6° in Esuk Oron to 70.9° in Sokoto, a spread of 12.3°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.
See all cities on the Qibla page for Nigeria.
Qibla in cities near Ile-Ife
Qibla in Ile-Ife: questions and answers
What is the Qibla direction in Ile-Ife?
It is 63.9° from true north, which is north-east: 26.1° north of east.
How far is Ile-Ife from Mecca?
4,087 km in a straight line over the globe, and 4,176 km to Medina.
When does the sun show the Qibla in Ile-Ife?
On 148 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 Ile-Ife not the direction shown on a map?
Flat maps distort directions. The line on a map points to 67.7°, but the shortest route on the globe leaves Ile-Ife at 63.9°, and that is the Qibla.
Does the Qibla change during the year?
No. The direction of 63.9° is fixed; only the times when the sun lines up with it change from day to day.