Qibla direction in Şūr Bāhir

How to face the Qibla in Şūr Bāhir

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 22.8° towards east: the result is the bearing of 157.2°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at south would leave you about 23° off.

Scholars agree that someone who can see the Kaaba must face it exactly, while someone far away faces its direction (jihat al-Ka‘bah) as precisely as reasonably possible. If a mosque is nearby, its mihrab and prayer lines are the easiest reference, since they were set when the building was laid out. At home, mark the direction once with tape or a small arrow so the whole family prays the same way.

Why a flat map shows a different direction

On a flat (Mercator) map, the straight line from Şūr Bāhir to Mecca points to 158.3°, only 1.1° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 157.2° bearing remains the exact one.

The angle on this page is the initial bearing of the great circle from 31.7368° N, 35.2334° E to the Kaaba (21.4225° N, 39.8262° E). It is the method used by mosque architects and by every serious Qibla calculator, and it gives one exact answer for each point on Earth.

Distance from Şūr Bāhir to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 1,234 km from Şūr Bāhir as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 915 km away. The distance is short enough that many pilgrims from Şūr Bāhir travel to the Hijaz by road.

Clocks in Şūr Bāhir 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 Şūr Bāhir rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Şūr Bāhir

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Şūr Bāhir 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 10:19 local time.

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

Şūr Bāhir compared with other cities

The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Hebron (27 km), prays towards 156.2°, a difference of 1.1°.

Across the 5 cities in Palestine on this site, the Qibla ranges from 152.2° in Khan Yunis to 158.2° in Nablus, a spread of 6.0°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Palestine.

Qibla in cities near Şūr Bāhir

• Hebron156.2° · 27 km
• Nablus158.2° · 54 km
• Gaza153.3° · 77 km
• Khan Yunis152.2° · 98 km