Qibla direction in Qurayyat

How to face the Qibla in Qurayyat

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 13.2° towards east: the result is the bearing of 166.8°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at south would leave you about 13° 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 Qurayyat, 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

On a flat (Mercator) map, the straight line from Qurayyat to Mecca points to 167.4°, only 0.6° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 166.8° bearing remains the exact one.

How is the figure of 166.8° obtained? From the coordinates of Qurayyat (31.3318° N, 37.3428° 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 Qurayyat to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 1,129 km from Qurayyat as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 795 km away. The distance is short enough that many pilgrims from Qurayyat travel to the Hijaz by road.

Clocks in Qurayyat 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 Qurayyat rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Qurayyat

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Qurayyat 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 11:47 local time.

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

Qurayyat compared with other cities

Compared with Riyadh, 1,180 km away, the Qibla in Qurayyat is turned 77.4° further anticlockwise (166.8° against 244.2°), and Mecca is 336 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Sakakah (313 km), prays towards 182.4°, a difference of 15.6°.

Across the 27 cities in Saudi Arabia on this site, the Qibla ranges from 96.4° in Jeddah to 330.8° in Jizan, a spread of 234.5°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Saudi Arabia.

Qibla in cities near Qurayyat

• Sakakah182.4° · 313 km
• Tabuk, Tabuk Region, Saudi Arabia156.4° · 334 km
• Arar186.8° · 354 km
• Ha'il195.9° · 597 km
• Al-Madinah al-Munawwarah176.3° · 795 km
• Yanbu148.3° · 808 km