Qibla direction in Mbeya

How to face the Qibla in Mbeya

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards north and move a further 11.6° towards east: the result is the bearing of 11.6°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at north would leave you about 12° off.

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 Mbeya, 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 Mbeya to Mecca points to 11.7°, only 0.1° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 11.6° bearing remains the exact one.

How is the figure of 11.6° obtained? From the coordinates of Mbeya (8.9000° S, 33.4500° 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 Mbeya to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 3,443 km from Mbeya as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 3,770 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 4 h 33 min, although most pilgrims from Mbeya connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Mbeya 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 Mbeya rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Mbeya

On 233 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Mbeya 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 1 March 2027 it happens at 12:57 local time.

On 132 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 13:02.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Mbeya: at 12:18 and 12:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Mbeya compared with other cities

Compared with Dodoma, 395 km away, the Qibla in Mbeya is turned 3.4° further clockwise (11.6° against 8.2°), and Mecca is 342 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Katumba (41 km), prays towards 11.2°, a difference of 0.4°.

Across the 34 cities in Tanzania on this site, the Qibla ranges from 1.1° in Dar es Salaam to 359.4° in Mtwara, a spread of 358.3°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Tanzania.

Qibla in cities near Mbeya

• Katumba11.2° · 41 km
• Tunduma12.7° · 87 km
• Makumbako9.1° · 152 km
• Sumbawanga15.2° · 227 km
• Iringa7.8° · 278 km
• Songea7.3° · 312 km