Qibla direction in Kūstī

How to face the Qibla in Kūstī

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards north and move a further 38.6° towards east: the result is the bearing of 38.6°. Because the angle sits far from the cardinal points, a rough guess such as “north” would be off by more than 30°, which is why a measured bearing matters in Kūstī.

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 Kūstī, 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 Kūstī to Mecca points to 39.6°, only 1.0° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 38.6° bearing remains the exact one.

How is the figure of 38.6° obtained? From the coordinates of Kūstī (13.1629° N, 32.6635° 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 Kūstī to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 1,192 km from Kūstī as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 1,453 km away. The distance is short enough that many pilgrims from Kūstī travel to the Hijaz by road.

Clocks in Kūstī 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 Kūstī rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Kūstī

On 115 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Kūstī 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 May 2027 it happens at 11:40 local time.

On 249 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 13:50.

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

Kūstī compared with other cities

Compared with Khartoum, 266 km away, the Qibla in Kūstī is turned 10.0° further anticlockwise (38.6° against 48.6°), and Mecca is 183 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Sennar (108 km), prays towards 36.3°, a difference of 2.3°.

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 Kūstī

• Sennar36.3° · 108 km
• Al Manāqil41.2° · 125 km
• Singa33.4° · 137 km
• Wad Madani39.6° · 166 km
• Ad-Damazin27.8° · 239 km
• Al-Ubayyid46.7° · 265 km