Qibla direction in Northampton

How to face the Qibla in Northampton

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 28.8° towards south: the result is the bearing of 118.8°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at east would leave you about 29° 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 Northampton, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. Any of the mosques of Northampton 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

This is a place where maps mislead badly: a straight line on a flat map from Northampton to Mecca points to 134.2° (south-east), a full 15.3° away from the true Qibla of 118.8° (south-east). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 40 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from Northampton first heads south-east, and that is the direction to face.

How is the figure of 118.8° obtained? From the coordinates of Northampton (52.2500° N, 0.8833° W) 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 Northampton to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 4,879 km from Northampton as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 4,593 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 6 h 14 min, although most pilgrims from Northampton connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Northampton run 3 hours behind Mecca in winter and 2 hours behind Mecca in summer, because of daylight saving time. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Northampton rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Northampton

On 261 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Northampton 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 15 February 2027 it happens at 08:04 local time.

On 66 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 June (30 days), for instance on 1 June 2027 at 20:21.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Northampton: at 10:18 and 10:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Northampton compared with other cities

The Qibla here is practically the same as in London, England, United Kingdom (119.0°), and Mecca is 85 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Milton Keynes (25 km), prays towards 118.8°, a difference of 0.1°.

Across the 75 cities in the United Kingdom on this site, the Qibla ranges from 113.7° in Plymouth, England, United Kingdom to 121.7° in Aberdeen, a spread of 8.0°. 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 Kingdom.

Qibla in cities near Northampton

• Milton Keynes118.8° · 25 km
• Bedford119.2° · 31 km
• Coventry118.3° · 46 km
• Leicester118.9° · 46 km
• Luton119.0° · 52 km
• Peterborough119.8° · 56 km