Qibla direction in Salem, Oregon, United States

How to face the Qibla in Salem, Oregon, United States

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards north and move a further 17.2° towards east: the result is the bearing of 17.2°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at north would leave you about 17° off.

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 Salem, Oregon, United States, 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 Salem, Oregon, United States to Mecca points to 99.9° (east), a full 82.7° away from the true Qibla of 17.2° (north). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 2,750 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from Salem, Oregon, United States first heads north, and that is the direction to face.

The value of 17.2° is the direction in which the shortest route from 44.9429° N, 123.0351° 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 Salem, Oregon, United States to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 12,433 km from Salem, Oregon, United States as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 12,099 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 15 h 08 min, although most pilgrims from Salem, Oregon, United States connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Salem, Oregon, United States run 11 hours behind Mecca in winter and 10 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 Salem, Oregon, United States rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Salem, Oregon, United States

From Salem, Oregon, United States the sun never rises high in the Qibla direction of 17.2°, 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 13:26.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both happen at night in Salem, Oregon, United States (02:18 and 02:27 local time), so they cannot be used here. Instead, on 13 January 2027 at 13:29 and 28 November 2027 at 13:09 the sun is over the point opposite the Kaaba, and every vertical shadow in Salem, Oregon, United States points straight to Mecca.

Salem, Oregon, United States compared with other cities

Compared with Washington D.C., 3,812 km away, the Qibla in Salem, Oregon, United States is turned 39.4° further anticlockwise (17.2° against 56.6°), and Mecca is 1,800 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Hillsboro (65 km), prays towards 17.2°, the same bearing to the tenth of a degree.

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 Salem, Oregon, United States

• Hillsboro17.2° · 65 km
• Portland17.5° · 70 km
• Gresham17.7° · 78 km
• Eugene17.2° · 99 km
• Tacoma17.5° · 261 km
• Kent17.7° · 278 km