Qibla direction in Bridgeport

How to face the Qibla in Bridgeport

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 31.0° towards north: the result is the bearing of 59.0°. 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 Bridgeport.

The scholars distinguish two cases: the one who sees the Kaaba aims at the building itself, while the one who cannot see it, as anywhere in Bridgeport, aims at its direction as well as he reasonably can. Comparing with the mihrab of a local mosque is a quick way to confirm the result. If you travel or move house, check the angle again, since it changes from place to place.

Why a flat map shows a different direction

This is a place where maps mislead badly: a straight line on a flat map from Bridgeport to Mecca points to 101.7° (east), a full 42.6° away from the true Qibla of 59.0° (north-east). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 648 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from Bridgeport first heads north-east, and that is the direction to face.

The value of 59.0° is the direction in which the shortest route from 41.1792° N, 73.1895° W sets off towards the Kaaba at 21.4225° N, 39.8262° E. Every accurate Qibla calculator, and the plans of well-oriented mosques, arrive at the same angle for this point.

Distance from Bridgeport to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 10,221 km from Bridgeport as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 9,962 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 12 h 31 min, although most pilgrims from Bridgeport connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Bridgeport run 8 hours behind Mecca in winter and 7 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 Bridgeport rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Bridgeport

From Bridgeport the sun never rises high in the Qibla direction of 59.0°, so you cannot simply face the sun. The opposite method works instead, as the right-hand column of the table shows.

On 309 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 March (31 days), for instance on 1 February 2027 at 16:17.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both happen at night in Bridgeport (05:18 and 05:27 local time), so they cannot be used here.

Bridgeport compared with other cities

Compared with Washington D.C., 414 km away, the Qibla in Bridgeport is turned 2.5° further clockwise (59.0° against 56.6°), and Mecca is 412 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, New Haven (26 km), prays towards 59.2°, a difference of 0.2°.

Across the 244 cities in the United States on this site, the Qibla ranges from 17.2° in Hillsboro to 350.9° in Anchorage, a spread of 333.7°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for United States.

Qibla in cities near Bridgeport

• New Haven59.2° · 26 km
• Stamford58.8° · 32 km
• Waterbury59.1° · 44 km
• The Bronx58.6° · 68 km
• Hartford59.3° · 77 km
• New York58.5° · 86 km