Qibla direction in Doha

How to face the Qibla in Doha

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards west and move a further 17.4° towards south: the result is the bearing of 252.6°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at west would leave you about 17° 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. The simplest check in Doha is a local mosque: its mihrab and prayer lines already point to the Qibla. See the mosques of Doha. 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

A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Doha to Mecca points to 250.2° (west), 2.4° away from the correct 252.6°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is not the true shortest route. The Qibla follows the great circle, the shortest path on the curved Earth, which is why the bearing differs.

The angle on this page is the initial bearing of the great circle from 25.2855° N, 51.5310° 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 Doha to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 1,269 km from Doha as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 1,205 km away. The distance is short enough that many pilgrims from Doha travel to the Hijaz by road.

Clocks in Doha run the same time as Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Doha rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Doha

On 259 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Doha 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 15 February 2027 it happens at 16:53 local time.

On 86 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 05:27.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Doha: at 12:18 and 12:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Doha compared with other cities

See all cities on the Qibla page for Qatar.