Qibla · Eastern Province
Qibla direction in Dammam
To face the Kaaba in Dammam, turn to 244.1° measured clockwise from true north, which is south-west (25.9° south of west). The Sacred Mosque in Mecca lies 1,183 km away along the shortest path over the globe, and this is the direction the mihrabs of the mosques in Dammam should follow.
Line up the top of your phone or compass with the green needle: it marks 244.1°, the Qibla of Dammam. Phone compasses usually display true north, so a reading of 244° is all you need; a needle compass reads magnetic north and needs the local declination added or subtracted first.
Find the Qibla with your phone
How to face the Qibla in Dammam
Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards west and move a further 25.9° towards south: the result is the bearing of 244.1°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at west would leave you about 26° 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 Dammam, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. Any of the mosques of Dammam 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
A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Dammam to Mecca points to 241.9° (south-west), 2.2° away from the correct 244.1°. 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.
How is the figure of 244.1° obtained? From the coordinates of Dammam (26.4344° N, 50.1033° 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 Dammam to Mecca and Medina
Mecca is 1,183 km from Dammam as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 1,076 km away. The distance is short enough that many pilgrims from Dammam travel to the Hijaz by road.
Clocks in Dammam 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 Dammam rather than those of Mecca.
Finding the Qibla with the sun in Dammam
On 315 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Dammam 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 1 February 2027 it happens at 16:22 local time.
The sun is never opposite the Qibla of Dammam during daylight, so the shadow method does not apply here; the left-hand column is the one to use.
| Date | Sun in the Qibla direction (face the sun) | Sun opposite (shadows point to the Qibla) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January 2027 | — | — |
| 15 January 2027 | — | — |
| 1 February 2027 | 16:22 | — |
| 15 February 2027 | 15:55 | — |
| 1 March 2027 | 15:23 | — |
| 15 March 2027 | 14:50 | — |
| 1 April 2027 | 14:09 | — |
| 15 April 2027 | 13:36 | — |
| 1 May 2027 | 13:01 | — |
| 15 May 2027 | 12:35 | — |
| 1 June 2027 | 12:14 | — |
| 15 June 2027 | 12:07 | — |
| 1 July 2027 | 12:12 | — |
| 15 July 2027 | 12:26 | — |
| 1 August 2027 | 12:51 | — |
| 15 August 2027 | 13:15 | — |
| 1 September 2027 | 13:44 | — |
| 15 September 2027 | 14:08 | — |
| 1 October 2027 | 14:37 | — |
| 15 October 2027 | 15:02 | — |
| 1 November 2027 | 15:35 | — |
| 15 November 2027 | 16:02 | — |
| 1 December 2027 | — | — |
| 15 December 2027 | — | — |
Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Dammam: at 12:18 and 12:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.
Dammam compared with other cities
The Qibla here is practically the same as in Riyadh (244.2°), and Mecca is 390 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Khobar (20 km), prays towards 245.1°, a difference of 1.0°.
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 Dammam
Qibla in Dammam: questions and answers
What is the Qibla direction in Dammam?
It is 244.1° from true north, which is south-west: 25.9° south of west.
How far is Dammam from Mecca?
1,183 km in a straight line over the globe, and 1,076 km to Medina.
When does the sun show the Qibla in Dammam?
On 315 days of 2027 the sun stands in the Qibla direction; the table on this page gives the exact time for the 1st and 15th of each month.
Is the Qibla the same everywhere in Saudi Arabia?
No. It ranges from 96.4° to 330.8° across the country, so each city has its own bearing.
Does the Qibla change during the year?
No. The direction of 244.1° is fixed; only the times when the sun lines up with it change from day to day.