Qibla direction in Malmö

How to face the Qibla in Malmö

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 41.2° towards east: the result is the bearing of 138.8°. Because the angle sits far from the cardinal points, a rough guess such as “south” would be off by more than 40°, which is why a measured bearing matters in Malmö.

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 Malmö, aims at its direction as well as he reasonably can. Comparing with the mihrab of one of the mosques of Malmö 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 Malmö to Mecca points to 149.3° (south-east), 10.6° away from the correct 138.8°. 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 138.8° is the direction in which the shortest route from 55.6059° N, 13.0007° 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 Malmö to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 4,402 km from Malmö as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 4,084 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 5 h 41 min, although most pilgrims from Malmö connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Malmö 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 Malmö rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Malmö

On 329 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Malmö 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 09:18 local time.

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

Malmö compared with other cities

Compared with Stockholm, 513 km away, the Qibla in Malmö is turned 9.5° further anticlockwise (138.8° against 148.2°), and Mecca is 152 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Helsingborg (53 km), prays towards 138.7°, a difference of 0.1°.

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 Malmö

• Helsingborg138.7° · 53 km
• Gothenburg139.0° · 242 km
• Jönköping141.9° · 252 km
• Linköping144.3° · 350 km
• Örebro144.4° · 429 km
• Västerås146.4° · 493 km