Qibla direction in Raqqa

How to face the Qibla in Raqqa

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 3.0° towards east: the result is the bearing of 177.0°. The direction is close to due south, which makes it easy to remember.

Scholars agree that someone who can see the Kaaba must face it exactly, while someone far away faces its direction (jihat al-Ka‘bah) as precisely as reasonably possible. The simplest check in Raqqa is a local mosque: its mihrab and prayer lines already point to the Qibla. See the mosques of Raqqa. At home, mark the direction once with tape or a small arrow so the whole family prays the same way.

Why a flat map shows a different direction

On a flat (Mercator) map, the straight line from Raqqa to Mecca points to 177.2°, only 0.2° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 177.0° bearing remains the exact one.

The angle on this page is the initial bearing of the great circle from 35.9528° N, 39.0079° E to the Kaaba (21.4225° N, 39.8262° E). It is the method used by mosque architects and by every serious Qibla calculator, and it gives one exact answer for each point on Earth.

Distance from Raqqa to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 1,618 km from Raqqa as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 1,278 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 2 h 24 min, although most pilgrims from Raqqa connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Raqqa run the same time as Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Raqqa rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Raqqa

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Raqqa 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 12:16 local time.

The sun is never opposite the Qibla of Raqqa 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 Raqqa: at 12:18 and 12:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Raqqa compared with other cities

Compared with Damascus, 368 km away, the Qibla in Raqqa is turned 12.4° further clockwise (177.0° against 164.6°), and Mecca is 229 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Dayr az Zawr (123 km), prays towards 181.2°, a difference of 4.3°.

Across the 12 cities in Syria on this site, the Qibla ranges from 164.6° in Tartus to 184.8° in Al-Qamishli, a spread of 20.3°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Syria.

Qibla in cities near Raqqa

• Dayr az Zawr181.2° · 123 km
• Al Bāb171.7° · 142 km
• Al-Hasakah183.3° · 168 km
• Aleppo170.3° · 168 km
• Idlib168.3° · 214 km
• Hama168.1° · 223 km