Qibla direction in Jönköping

How to face the Qibla in Jönköping

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 38.1° towards east: the result is the bearing of 141.9°. Because the angle sits far from the cardinal points, a rough guess such as “south” would be off by more than 30°, which is why a measured bearing matters in Jönköping.

The scholars distinguish two cases: the one who sees the Kaaba aims at the building itself, while the one who cannot see it, as anywhere in Jönköping, aims at its direction as well as he reasonably can. Comparing with the mihrab of a local mosque is a quick way to confirm the result. If you travel or move house, check the angle again, since it changes from place to place.

Why a flat map shows a different direction

A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Jönköping to Mecca points to 152.5° (south-east), 10.5° away from the correct 141.9°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 17 km longer than the true shortest route. The Qibla follows the great circle, the shortest path on the curved Earth, which is why the bearing differs.

The value of 141.9° is the direction in which the shortest route from 57.7815° N, 14.1562° E sets off towards the Kaaba at 21.4225° N, 39.8262° E. Every accurate Qibla calculator, and the plans of well-oriented mosques, arrive at the same angle for this point.

Distance from Jönköping to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 4,543 km from Jönköping as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 4,220 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 5 h 51 min, although most pilgrims from Jönköping connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Jönköping run 2 hours behind Mecca in winter and 1 hour behind Mecca in summer, because of daylight saving time. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Jönköping rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Jönköping

On 325 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Jönköping while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in March (31 days); for example, on 15 January 2027 it happens at 09:28 local time.

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

Jönköping compared with other cities

Compared with Stockholm, 285 km away, the Qibla in Jönköping is turned 6.3° further anticlockwise (141.9° against 148.2°), and Mecca is 11 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Linköping (111 km), prays towards 144.3°, a difference of 2.4°.

Across the 10 cities in Sweden on this site, the Qibla ranges from 138.7° in Helsingborg to 153.5° in Umeå, a spread of 14.8°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Sweden.

Qibla in cities near Jönköping

• Linköping144.3° · 111 km
• Gothenburg139.0° · 130 km
• Örebro144.4° · 177 km
• Helsingborg138.7° · 212 km
• Västerås146.4° · 247 km
• Malmö138.8° · 252 km