Qibla direction in Joliet

How to face the Qibla in Joliet

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 41.6° towards north: the result is the bearing of 48.4°. Because the angle sits far from the cardinal points, a rough guess such as “east” would be off by more than 40°, which is why a measured bearing matters in Joliet.

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 Joliet, 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 Joliet to Mecca points to 100.5° (east), a full 52.2° away from the true Qibla of 48.4° (north-east). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 1,027 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from Joliet first heads north-east, and that is the direction to face.

The value of 48.4° is the direction in which the shortest route from 41.5252° N, 88.0834° 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 Joliet to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 11,200 km from Joliet as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 10,916 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 13 h 41 min, although most pilgrims from Joliet connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Joliet run 9 hours behind Mecca in winter and 8 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 Joliet rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Joliet

From Joliet the sun never rises high in the Qibla direction of 48.4°, so you cannot simply face the sun. The opposite method works instead, as the right-hand column of the table shows.

On 365 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 January (31 days), for instance on 1 January 2027 at 15:29.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both happen at night in Joliet (04:18 and 04:27 local time), so they cannot be used here. Instead, on 13 January 2027 at 15:29 and 28 November 2027 at 15:09 the sun is over the point opposite the Kaaba, and every vertical shadow in Joliet points straight to Mecca.

Joliet compared with other cities

Compared with Washington D.C., 982 km away, the Qibla in Joliet is turned 8.2° further anticlockwise (48.4° against 56.6°), and Mecca is 567 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Aurora (33 km), prays towards 48.2°, 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 Joliet

• Aurora48.2° · 33 km
• Chicago48.7° · 51 km
• Elgin48.2° · 59 km
• Rockford47.5° · 118 km
• South Bend49.7° · 153 km
• Peoria, Illinois, United States47.4° · 156 km