Qibla direction in Nyagatare

How to face the Qibla in Nyagatare

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards north and move a further 21.7° towards east: the result is the bearing of 21.7°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at north would leave you about 22° 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 Nyagatare to Mecca points to 22.2°, only 0.5° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 21.7° bearing remains the exact one.

The angle on this page is the initial bearing of the great circle from 1.2952° S, 30.3226° 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 Nyagatare to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 2,729 km from Nyagatare as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 3,035 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 3 h 43 min, although most pilgrims from Nyagatare connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Nyagatare run 1 hour behind Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Nyagatare rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Nyagatare

On 193 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Nyagatare 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 11:53 local time.

On 171 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 12:39.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Nyagatare: at 11:18 and 11:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Nyagatare compared with other cities

The Qibla here is practically the same as in Kigali (21.7°), and Mecca is 78 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Kigali (78 km), prays towards 21.7°, the same bearing to the tenth of a degree.

Among the 4 cities in Rwanda on this site, Nyagatare has the smallest Qibla bearing; the largest is 23.5° in Gisenyi. Across the country the direction varies by 1.8°.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Rwanda.

Qibla in cities near Nyagatare

• Kigali21.7° · 78 km
• Ruhengeri22.9° · 80 km
• Gisenyi23.5° · 127 km