Qibla direction in Khartoum

How to face the Qibla in Khartoum

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 41.4° towards north: the result is the bearing of 48.6°. Because the angle sits far from the cardinal points, a rough guess such as “east” would be off by more than 40°, which is why a measured bearing matters in Khartoum.

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 Khartoum, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. Any of the mosques of Khartoum 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 Khartoum to Mecca points to 49.7°, only 1.1° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 48.6° bearing remains the exact one.

How is the figure of 48.6° obtained? From the coordinates of Khartoum (15.5518° N, 32.5324° 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 Khartoum to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 1,008 km from Khartoum as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 1,236 km away. The distance is short enough that many pilgrims from Khartoum travel to the Hijaz by road.

Clocks in Khartoum 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 Khartoum rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Khartoum

On 100 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Khartoum while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in July (31 days); for example, on 15 May 2027 it happens at 11:30 local time.

On 265 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 14:46.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Khartoum: at 11:18 and 11:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Khartoum compared with other cities

The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Al Manāqil (153 km), prays towards 41.2°, a difference of 7.4°.

Across the 18 cities in Sudan on this site, the Qibla ranges from 27.8° in Ad-Damazin to 61.9° in Geneina, a spread of 34.1°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Sudan.

Qibla in cities near Khartoum

• Al Manāqil41.2° · 153 km
• Wad Madani39.6° · 166 km
• Sennar36.3° · 247 km
• Kūstī38.6° · 266 km
• Atbara55.0° · 285 km
• Singa33.4° · 307 km