Qibla direction in Lira

How to face the Qibla in Lira

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards north and move a further 18.9° towards east: the result is the bearing of 18.9°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at north would leave you about 19° off.

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. If a mosque is nearby, its mihrab and prayer lines are the easiest reference, since they were set when the building was laid out. 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 Lira to Mecca points to 19.4°, only 0.5° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 18.9° bearing remains the exact one.

The angle on this page is the initial bearing of the great circle from 2.2499° N, 32.8999° 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 Lira to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 2,260 km from Lira as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 2,573 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 3 h 10 min, although most pilgrims from Lira connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Lira 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 Lira rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Lira

On 174 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Lira 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 1 April 2027 it happens at 12:49 local time.

On 189 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 13:28.

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

Lira compared with other cities

Compared with Kampala, 218 km away, the Qibla in Lira is turned 0.8° further clockwise (18.9° against 18.1°), and Mecca is 215 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Gulu (89 km), prays towards 20.9°, a difference of 2.0°.

Across the 16 cities in Uganda on this site, the Qibla ranges from 14.8° in Mbale to 23.5° in Kasese, a spread of 8.7°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Uganda.

Qibla in cities near Lira

• Gulu20.9° · 89 km
• Masindi21.2° · 146 km
• Mbale14.8° · 192 km
• Hoima21.9° · 194 km
• Njeru16.7° · 203 km
• Lugazi17.3° · 209 km