Qibla direction in Norfolk

How to face the Qibla in Norfolk

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 32.8° towards north: the result is the bearing of 57.2°. 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 Norfolk.

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 Norfolk, 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 Norfolk to Mecca points to 98.7° (east), a full 41.5° away from the true Qibla of 57.2° (north-east). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 650 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from Norfolk first heads north-east, and that is the direction to face.

The value of 57.2° is the direction in which the shortest route from 36.8468° N, 76.2852° 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 Norfolk to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 10,702 km from Norfolk as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 10,452 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 13 h 05 min, although most pilgrims from Norfolk connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Norfolk 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 Norfolk rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Norfolk

From Norfolk the sun never rises high in the Qibla direction of 57.2°, so you cannot simply face the sun. The opposite method works instead, as the right-hand column of the table shows.

On 350 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.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both happen at night in Norfolk (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 Norfolk points straight to Mecca.

Norfolk compared with other cities

Compared with Washington D.C., 237 km away, the Qibla in Norfolk is turned 0.7° further clockwise (57.2° against 56.6°), and Mecca is 69 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Newport News (20 km), prays towards 57.1°, 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 Norfolk

• Newport News57.1° · 20 km
• Virginia Beach57.4° · 27 km
• Richmond56.4° · 130 km
• Washington D.C.56.6° · 237 km
• Raleigh55.8° · 242 km
• Durham55.6° · 252 km