Qibla direction in Merca

How to face the Qibla in Merca

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards north and move a further 13.4° towards west: the result is the bearing of 346.6°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at north would leave you about 13° off.

Scholars agree that someone who can see the Kaaba must face it exactly, while someone far away faces its direction (jihat al-Ka‘bah) as precisely as reasonably possible. If a mosque is nearby, its mihrab and prayer lines are the easiest reference, since they were set when the building was laid out. At home, mark the direction once with tape or a small arrow so the whole family prays the same way.

Why a flat map shows a different direction

On a flat (Mercator) map, the straight line from Merca to Mecca points to 346.3°, only 0.4° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 346.6° bearing remains the exact one.

The angle on this page is the initial bearing of the great circle from 1.7159° N, 44.7717° E to the Kaaba (21.4225° N, 39.8262° E). It is the method used by mosque architects and by every serious Qibla calculator, and it gives one exact answer for each point on Earth.

Distance from Merca to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 2,256 km from Merca as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 2,590 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 3 h 09 min, although most pilgrims from Merca connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Merca 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 Merca rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Merca

On 177 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Merca while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in May (31 days); for example, on 1 April 2027 it happens at 12:08 local time.

On 187 days the sun stands exactly opposite the Qibla: then the shadow of any vertical object, a pole, a door frame or a plumb line, points straight towards Mecca. This is most frequent in January (31 days), for instance on 1 January 2027 at 11:39.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Merca: at 12:18 and 12:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Merca compared with other cities

Compared with Mogadishu, 73 km away, the Qibla in Merca is turned 1.7° further clockwise (346.6° against 344.9°), and Mecca is 19 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Mogadishu (73 km), prays towards 344.9°, a difference of 1.7°.

Across the 10 cities in Somalia on this site, the Qibla ranges from 313.0° in El Dibir to 353.2° in Kismayo, a spread of 40.2°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Somalia.

Qibla in cities near Merca

• Mogadishu344.9° · 73 km
• Baidoa348.8° · 199 km
• Kismayo353.2° · 338 km
• Cabudwaaq338.4° · 529 km
• Hargeisa341.5° · 876 km
• Ruqi343.6° · 930 km