Qibla direction in Baltimore

How to face the Qibla in Baltimore

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 33.2° towards north: the result is the bearing of 56.8°. 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 Baltimore.

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 Baltimore, aims at its direction as well as he reasonably can. Comparing with the mihrab of one of the mosques of Baltimore 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 Baltimore to Mecca points to 100.2° (east), a full 43.3° away from the true Qibla of 56.8° (north-east). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 693 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from Baltimore first heads north-east, and that is the direction to face.

The value of 56.8° is the direction in which the shortest route from 39.2904° N, 76.6122° 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 Baltimore to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 10,578 km from Baltimore as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 10,320 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 12 h 57 min, although most pilgrims from Baltimore connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Baltimore 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 Baltimore rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Baltimore

From Baltimore the sun never rises high in the Qibla direction of 56.8°, so you cannot simply face the sun. The opposite method works instead, as the right-hand column of the table shows.

On 330 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 Baltimore (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 Baltimore points straight to Mecca.

Baltimore compared with other cities

The Qibla here is practically the same as in Washington D.C. (56.6°), and Mecca is 55 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Washington D.C. (57 km), prays towards 56.6°, 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 Baltimore

• Washington D.C.56.6° · 57 km
• Philadelphia57.7° · 144 km
• Allentown57.5° · 175 km
• Richmond56.4° · 207 km
• Edison58.2° · 232 km
• Staten Island58.4° · 254 km