Qibla · Emirate of Sharjah
Qibla direction in Sharjah city
To face the Kaaba in Sharjah city, turn to 257.9° measured clockwise from true north, which is west (12.1° south of west). The Sacred Mosque in Mecca lies 1,648 km away along the shortest path over the globe, and this is the direction the mihrabs of the mosques in Sharjah city should follow.
Line up the top of your phone or compass with the green needle: it marks 257.9°, the Qibla of Sharjah city. Phone compasses usually display true north, so a reading of 258° is all you need; a needle compass reads magnetic north and needs the local declination added or subtracted first.
Find the Qibla with your phone
How to face the Qibla in Sharjah city
Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards west and move a further 12.1° towards south: the result is the bearing of 257.9°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at west 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 Sharjah city, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. Any of the mosques of Sharjah city is a handy reference, because the 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
A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Sharjah city to Mecca points to 254.7° (west), 3.2° away from the correct 257.9°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is not the true shortest route. The Qibla follows the great circle, the shortest path on the curved Earth, which is why the bearing differs.
How is the figure of 257.9° obtained? From the coordinates of Sharjah city (25.3342° N, 55.4122° 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 Sharjah city to Mecca and Medina
Mecca is 1,648 km from Sharjah city as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 1,596 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 2 h 26 min, although most pilgrims from Sharjah city connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.
Clocks in Sharjah city run 1 hour ahead of Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Sharjah city rather than those of Mecca.
Finding the Qibla with the sun in Sharjah city
On 236 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Sharjah city 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 17:42 local time.
On 119 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 May (31 days), for instance on 1 May 2027 at 06:31.
| Date | Sun in the Qibla direction (face the sun) | Sun opposite (shadows point to the Qibla) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January 2027 | — | — |
| 15 January 2027 | — | — |
| 1 February 2027 | — | — |
| 15 February 2027 | — | — |
| 1 March 2027 | 17:42 | — |
| 15 March 2027 | 16:57 | — |
| 1 April 2027 | 16:01 | — |
| 15 April 2027 | 15:16 | — |
| 1 May 2027 | 14:27 | 06:31 |
| 15 May 2027 | 13:48 | 07:08 |
| 1 June 2027 | 13:10 | 07:49 |
| 15 June 2027 | 12:55 | 08:10 |
| 1 July 2027 | 13:01 | 08:11 |
| 15 July 2027 | 13:25 | 07:51 |
| 1 August 2027 | 14:07 | 07:11 |
| 15 August 2027 | 14:44 | 06:30 |
| 1 September 2027 | 15:28 | — |
| 15 September 2027 | 16:05 | — |
| 1 October 2027 | 16:46 | — |
| 15 October 2027 | 17:24 | — |
| 1 November 2027 | — | — |
| 15 November 2027 | — | — |
| 1 December 2027 | — | — |
| 15 December 2027 | — | — |
Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Sharjah city: at 13:18 and 13:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.
Sharjah city compared with other cities
Compared with Abu Dhabi Island and Internal Islands City, 142 km away, the Qibla in Sharjah city is turned 2.3° further anticlockwise (257.9° against 260.2°), and Mecca is 119 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Dubai City (30 km), prays towards 258.8°, a difference of 0.8°.
Across the 7 cities in the United Arab Emirates on this site, the Qibla ranges from 256.9° in Ras al-Khaimah to 262.5° in Al Ain, a spread of 5.6°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.
See all cities on the Qibla page for United Arab Emirates.
Qibla in cities near Sharjah city
- Dubai City258.8° · 30 km
- Jebel Ali258.8° · 48 km
- Ras al-Khaimah256.9° · 73 km
- Fujairah259.7° · 97 km
- Al Ain262.5° · 132 km
- Abu Dhabi Island and Internal Islands City260.2° · 142 km
Qibla in Sharjah city: questions and answers
What is the Qibla direction in Sharjah city?
It is 257.9° from true north, which is west: 12.1° south of west.
How far is Sharjah city from Mecca?
1,648 km in a straight line over the globe, and 1,596 km to Medina.
When does the sun show the Qibla in Sharjah city?
On 236 days of 2027 the sun stands in the Qibla direction; the table on this page gives the exact time for the 1st and 15th of each month.
Why is the Qibla in Sharjah city not the direction shown on a map?
Flat maps distort directions. The line on a map points to 254.7°, but the shortest route on the globe leaves Sharjah city at 257.9°, and that is the Qibla.
Does the Qibla change during the year?
No. The direction of 257.9° is fixed; only the times when the sun lines up with it change from day to day.