Qibla direction in Washington D.C.

How to face the Qibla in Washington D.C.

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 33.4° towards north: the result is the bearing of 56.6°. 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 Washington D.C..

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 Washington D.C., aims at its direction as well as he reasonably can. Comparing with the mihrab of one of the mosques of Washington D.C. 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 Washington D.C. to Mecca points to 99.9° (east), a full 43.3° away from the true Qibla of 56.6° (north-east). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 697 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from Washington D.C. first heads north-east, and that is the direction to face.

The value of 56.6° is the direction in which the shortest route from 38.8951° N, 77.0364° 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 Washington D.C. to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 10,633 km from Washington D.C. as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 10,375 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 13 h 01 min, although most pilgrims from Washington D.C. connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Washington D.C. 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 Washington D.C. rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Washington D.C.

From Washington D.C. the sun never rises high in the Qibla direction of 56.6°, so you cannot simply face the sun. The opposite method works instead, as the right-hand column of the table shows.

On 334 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 15 January 2027 at 16:29.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both happen at night in Washington D.C. (05:18 and 05:27 local time), so they cannot be used here. Instead, on 13 January 2027 at 16:29 and 28 November 2027 at 16:09 the sun is over the point opposite the Kaaba, and every vertical shadow in Washington D.C. points straight to Mecca.

Washington D.C. compared with other cities

The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Baltimore (57 km), prays towards 56.8°, a difference of 0.3°.

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 Washington D.C.

• Baltimore56.8° · 57 km
• Richmond56.4° · 154 km
• Philadelphia57.7° · 199 km
• Newport News57.1° · 219 km
• Allentown57.5° · 232 km
• Norfolk57.2° · 237 km