Qibla direction in Al-Madinah al-Munawwarah

How to face the Qibla in Al-Madinah al-Munawwarah

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 3.7° towards east: the result is the bearing of 176.3°. The direction is close to due south, which makes it easy to remember.

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 Al-Madinah al-Munawwarah, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. Any of the mosques of Al-Madinah al-Munawwarah 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 Al-Madinah al-Munawwarah to Mecca points to 176.3°, only 0.0° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 176.3° bearing remains the exact one.

How is the figure of 176.3° obtained? From the coordinates of Al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (24.4686° N, 39.6142° 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 Al-Madinah al-Munawwarah to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 339 km from Al-Madinah al-Munawwarah as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is less than 1 km away. The distance is short enough that many pilgrims from Al-Madinah al-Munawwarah travel to the Hijaz by road.

Clocks in Al-Madinah al-Munawwarah 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 Al-Madinah al-Munawwarah rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Al-Madinah al-Munawwarah

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Al-Madinah al-Munawwarah 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 12:13 local time.

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

Al-Madinah al-Munawwarah compared with other cities

Compared with Riyadh, 719 km away, the Qibla in Al-Madinah al-Munawwarah is turned 67.9° further anticlockwise (176.3° against 244.2°), and Mecca is 454 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Yanbu (163 km), prays towards 148.3°, a difference of 28.0°.

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 Al-Madinah al-Munawwarah

• Yanbu148.3° · 163 km
• Jeddah96.4° · 334 km
• Mecca172.6° · 339 km
• Ta'if285.6° · 365 km
• Ha'il195.9° · 398 km
• Unaizah220.1° · 477 km