Qibla direction in Sengerema

How to face the Qibla in Sengerema

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards north and move a further 15.9° towards east: the result is the bearing of 15.9°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at north would leave you about 16° 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 Sengerema, 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 Sengerema to Mecca points to 16.3°, only 0.3° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 15.9° bearing remains the exact one.

How is the figure of 15.9° obtained? From the coordinates of Sengerema (2.6667° S, 32.6500° 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 Sengerema to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 2,790 km from Sengerema as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 3,109 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 3 h 47 min, although most pilgrims from Sengerema connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Sengerema 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 Sengerema rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Sengerema

On 200 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Sengerema 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 15 March 2027 it happens at 12:58 local time.

On 164 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 13:18.

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

Sengerema compared with other cities

Compared with Dodoma, 519 km away, the Qibla in Sengerema is turned 7.8° further clockwise (15.9° against 8.2°), and Mecca is 310 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Mwanza (32 km), prays towards 15.5°, 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 Sengerema

• Mwanza15.5° · 32 km
• Geita16.7° · 52 km
• Kahama15.4° · 130 km
• Shinyanga13.8° · 140 km
• Bariadi13.0° · 149 km
• Bunda13.7° · 153 km