Qibla · Virginia
Qibla direction in Newport News
To face the Kaaba in Newport News, turn to 57.1° measured clockwise from true north, which is north-east (32.9° north of east). The Sacred Mosque in Mecca lies 10,705 km away along the shortest path over the globe, and this is the direction the mihrabs of the mosques in Newport News should follow.
On the compass the green needle points to 57.1°. If your phone shows true north, rotate until the heading reads 57°; with a classic magnetic compass, first correct for the local magnetic declination, which can shift the needle by several degrees.
Find the Qibla with your phone
How to face the Qibla in Newport News
Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 32.9° towards north: the result is the bearing of 57.1°. 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 Newport News.
Scholars agree that someone who can see the Kaaba must face it exactly, while someone far away faces its direction (jihat al-Ka‘bah) as precisely as reasonably possible. If a mosque is nearby, its mihrab and prayer lines are the easiest reference, since they were set when the building was laid out. At home, mark the direction once with tape or a small arrow so the whole family prays the same way.
Why a flat map shows a different direction
This is a place where maps mislead badly: a straight line on a flat map from Newport News to Mecca points to 98.8° (east), a full 41.6° away from the true Qibla of 57.1° (north-east). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 655 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from Newport News first heads north-east, and that is the direction to face.
The angle on this page is the initial bearing of the great circle from 36.9804° N, 76.4298° W to the Kaaba (21.4225° N, 39.8262° E). It is the method used by mosque architects and by every serious Qibla calculator, and it gives one exact answer for each point on Earth.
Distance from Newport News to Mecca and Medina
Mecca is 10,705 km from Newport News as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 10,454 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 13 h 06 min, although most pilgrims from Newport News connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.
Clocks in Newport News 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 Newport News rather than those of Mecca.
Finding the Qibla with the sun in Newport News
From Newport News the sun never rises high in the Qibla direction of 57.1°, so you cannot simply face the sun. The opposite method works instead, as the right-hand column of the table shows.
On 356 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 16:31.
| Date | Sun in the Qibla direction (face the sun) | Sun opposite (shadows point to the Qibla) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January 2027 | — | 16:31 |
| 15 January 2027 | — | 16:28 |
| 1 February 2027 | — | 16:15 |
| 15 February 2027 | — | 15:58 |
| 1 March 2027 | — | 15:37 |
| 15 March 2027 | — | 16:14 |
| 1 April 2027 | — | 15:44 |
| 15 April 2027 | — | 15:21 |
| 1 May 2027 | — | 14:58 |
| 15 May 2027 | — | 14:42 |
| 1 June 2027 | — | 14:29 |
| 15 June 2027 | — | 14:26 |
| 1 July 2027 | — | 14:31 |
| 15 July 2027 | — | 14:40 |
| 1 August 2027 | — | 14:56 |
| 15 August 2027 | — | 15:10 |
| 1 September 2027 | — | 15:28 |
| 15 September 2027 | — | 15:42 |
| 1 October 2027 | — | 15:59 |
| 15 October 2027 | — | 16:15 |
| 1 November 2027 | — | 16:35 |
| 15 November 2027 | — | 15:53 |
| 1 December 2027 | — | 16:12 |
| 15 December 2027 | — | 16:24 |
Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both happen at night in Newport News (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 Newport News points straight to Mecca.
Newport News compared with other cities
Compared with Washington D.C., 219 km away, the Qibla in Newport News is turned 0.6° further clockwise (57.1° against 56.6°), and Mecca is 72 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Norfolk (20 km), prays towards 57.2°, a difference of 0.1°.
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 Newport News
- Norfolk57.2° · 20 km
- Virginia Beach57.4° · 43 km
- Richmond56.4° · 111 km
- Washington D.C.56.6° · 219 km
- Raleigh55.8° · 239 km
- Durham55.6° · 246 km
Qibla in Newport News: questions and answers
What is the Qibla direction in Newport News?
It is 57.1° from true north, which is north-east: 32.9° north of east.
How far is Newport News from Mecca?
10,705 km in a straight line over the globe, and 10,454 km to Medina.
When does the sun show the Qibla in Newport News?
The sun never stands in the Qibla direction here, but on 356 days it is exactly opposite, and shadows then point to Mecca.
Why is the Qibla in Newport News not the direction shown on a map?
Flat maps distort directions. The line on a map points to 98.8°, but the shortest route on the globe leaves Newport News at 57.1°, and that is the Qibla.
Does the Qibla change during the year?
No. The direction of 57.1° is fixed; only the times when the sun lines up with it change from day to day.