Qibla · Eastern Province
Qibla direction in Jubail
To face the Kaaba in Jubail, turn to 240.0° measured clockwise from true north, which is south-west (30.0° south of west). The Sacred Mosque in Mecca lies 1,171 km away along the shortest path over the globe, and this is the direction the mihrabs of the mosques in Jubail should follow.
Line up the top of your phone or compass with the green needle: it marks 240.0°, the Qibla of Jubail. Phone compasses usually display true north, so a reading of 240° 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 Jubail
Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards west and move a further 30.0° towards south: the result is the bearing of 240.0°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at west would leave you about 30° 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 Jubail, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. Any of the mosques of Jubail 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 Jubail to Mecca points to 237.9° (south-west), 2.1° away from the correct 240.0°. 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 240.0° obtained? From the coordinates of Jubail (27.0174° N, 49.6225° 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 Jubail to Mecca and Medina
Mecca is 1,171 km from Jubail as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 1,042 km away. The distance is short enough that many pilgrims from Jubail travel to the Hijaz by road.
Clocks in Jubail 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 Jubail rather than those of Mecca.
Finding the Qibla with the sun in Jubail
On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Jubail 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 16:22 local time.
The sun is never opposite the Qibla of Jubail 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 | 16:22 | — |
| 15 January 2027 | 16:15 | — |
| 1 February 2027 | 15:55 | — |
| 15 February 2027 | 15:32 | — |
| 1 March 2027 | 15:04 | — |
| 15 March 2027 | 14:34 | — |
| 1 April 2027 | 13:56 | — |
| 15 April 2027 | 13:26 | — |
| 1 May 2027 | 12:55 | — |
| 15 May 2027 | 12:33 | — |
| 1 June 2027 | 12:15 | — |
| 15 June 2027 | 12:09 | — |
| 1 July 2027 | 12:14 | — |
| 15 July 2027 | 12:26 | — |
| 1 August 2027 | 12:48 | — |
| 15 August 2027 | 13:08 | — |
| 1 September 2027 | 13:34 | — |
| 15 September 2027 | 13:55 | — |
| 1 October 2027 | 14:20 | — |
| 15 October 2027 | 14:42 | — |
| 1 November 2027 | 15:11 | — |
| 15 November 2027 | 15:35 | — |
| 1 December 2027 | 16:00 | — |
| 15 December 2027 | 16:15 | — |
Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Jubail: at 12:18 and 12:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.
Jubail compared with other cities
Compared with Riyadh, 389 km away, the Qibla in Jubail is turned 4.1° further anticlockwise (240.0° against 244.2°), and Mecca is 378 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Dammam (81 km), prays towards 244.1°, a difference of 4.0°.
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 Jubail
Qibla in Jubail: questions and answers
What is the Qibla direction in Jubail?
It is 240.0° from true north, which is south-west: 30.0° south of west.
How far is Jubail from Mecca?
1,171 km in a straight line over the globe, and 1,042 km to Medina.
When does the sun show the Qibla in Jubail?
On 365 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 240.0° is fixed; only the times when the sun lines up with it change from day to day.