Qibla direction in Sunderland

How to face the Qibla in Sunderland

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 30.6° towards south: the result is the bearing of 120.6°. Because the angle sits far from the cardinal points, a rough guess such as “east” would be off by more than 30°, which is why a measured bearing matters in Sunderland.

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

This is a place where maps mislead badly: a straight line on a flat map from Sunderland to Mecca points to 136.9° (south-east), a full 16.3° away from the true Qibla of 120.6° (south-east). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 45 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from Sunderland first heads south-east, and that is the direction to face.

The angle on this page is the initial bearing of the great circle from 54.9047° N, 1.3822° W 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 Sunderland to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 5,054 km from Sunderland as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 4,758 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 6 h 27 min, although most pilgrims from Sunderland connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Sunderland 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 Sunderland rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Sunderland

On 259 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Sunderland 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 08:14 local time.

On 65 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 20:33.

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

Sunderland compared with other cities

Compared with London, England, United Kingdom, 387 km away, the Qibla in Sunderland is turned 1.6° further clockwise (120.6° against 119.0°), and Mecca is 260 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Newcastle upon Tyne (17 km), prays towards 120.4°, a difference of 0.2°.

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 Sunderland

• Newcastle upon Tyne120.4° · 17 km
• Middlesbrough120.5° · 38 km
• York120.1° · 107 km
• Leeds119.5° · 124 km
• Burnley118.7° · 135 km
• Huddersfield119.1° · 142 km