Qibla direction in Thembisa

How to face the Qibla in Thembisa

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards north and move a further 14.4° towards east: the result is the bearing of 14.4°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at north would leave you about 14° 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 Thembisa, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. A nearby mosque is a handy reference, because its 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 Thembisa to Mecca points to 13.4°, only 1.1° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 14.4° bearing remains the exact one.

How is the figure of 14.4° obtained? From the coordinates of Thembisa (25.9964° S, 28.2268° 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 Thembisa to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 5,419 km from Thembisa as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 5,743 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 6 h 53 min, although most pilgrims from Thembisa connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Thembisa run 1 hour behind Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Thembisa rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Thembisa

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Thembisa 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 12:07 local time.

The sun is never opposite the Qibla of Thembisa 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 Thembisa: at 11:18 and 11:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Thembisa compared with other cities

The Qibla here is practically the same as in Pretoria (14.5°), and Mecca is 26 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Benoni (23 km), prays towards 14.3°, a difference of 0.2°.

Across the 59 cities in South Africa on this site, the Qibla ranges from 9.4° in Richards Bay to 23.4° in Cape Town, a spread of 14.0°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for South Africa.

Qibla in cities near Thembisa

• Benoni14.3° · 23 km
• Etwatwa14.1° · 27 km
• Pretoria14.5° · 28 km
• Johannesburg14.6° · 29 km
• Tokoza14.5° · 42 km
• Krugersdorp14.9° · 46 km