Qibla direction in Arad

How to face the Qibla in Arad

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 37.6° towards east: the result is the bearing of 142.4°. Because the angle sits far from the cardinal points, a rough guess such as “south” would be off by more than 30°, which is why a measured bearing matters in Arad.

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 Arad, 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

A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Arad to Mecca points to 148.5° (south-east), 6.1° away from the correct 142.4°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 5 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.

The value of 142.4° is the direction in which the shortest route from 46.1833° N, 21.3167° E 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 Arad to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 3,223 km from Arad as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 2,914 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 4 h 18 min, although most pilgrims from Arad connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Arad 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 Arad rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Arad

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Arad 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 09:56 local time.

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

Arad compared with other cities

Compared with Bucharest, 422 km away, the Qibla in Arad is turned 6.9° further anticlockwise (142.4° against 149.3°), and Mecca is 371 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Timișoara (48 km), prays towards 141.8°, a difference of 0.6°.

Across the 20 cities in Romania on this site, the Qibla ranges from 141.8° in Timișoara to 154.8° in Iași, a spread of 13.0°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Romania.

Qibla in cities near Arad

• Timișoara141.8° · 48 km
• Oradea144.4° · 106 km
• Cluj-Napoca147.0° · 186 km
• Satu Mare146.7° · 215 km
• Sibiu147.0° · 223 km
• Baia Mare147.8° · 237 km