Qibla direction in Unaizah

How to face the Qibla in Unaizah

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 40.1° towards west: the result is the bearing of 220.1°. Because the angle sits far from the cardinal points, a rough guess such as “south” would be off by more than 40°, which is why a measured bearing matters in Unaizah.

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 Unaizah, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. Any of the mosques of Unaizah is a handy reference, because the 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 Unaizah to Mecca points to 219.2°, only 0.9° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 220.1° bearing remains the exact one.

How is the figure of 220.1° obtained? From the coordinates of Unaizah (26.1000° N, 44.0000° 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 Unaizah to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 671 km from Unaizah as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 477 km away. The distance is short enough that many pilgrims from Unaizah travel to the Hijaz by road.

Clocks in Unaizah 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 Unaizah rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Unaizah

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Unaizah 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 14:39 local time.

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

Unaizah compared with other cities

Compared with Riyadh, 315 km away, the Qibla in Unaizah is turned 24.1° further anticlockwise (220.1° against 244.2°), and Mecca is 122 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Buraidah (25 km), prays towards 218.6°, a difference of 1.5°.

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 Unaizah

• Buraidah218.6° · 25 km
• Az Zulfī224.1° · 84 km
• Ha'il195.9° · 278 km
• Riyadh244.2° · 315 km
• Hafar Al-Batin219.8° · 324 km
• Al Kharj249.9° · 399 km