Qibla direction in Ibb

How to face the Qibla in Ibb

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards north and move a further 28.5° towards west: the result is the bearing of 331.5°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at north would leave you about 28° off.

Facing the Qibla is a condition of the prayer. Whoever prays inside the Sacred Mosque faces the Kaaba itself; whoever is far away, as in Ibb, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. Any of the mosques of Ibb is a handy reference, because the prayer rows were aligned when it was built. Once you know the direction at home, a discreet mark on the wall saves you from checking again.

Why a flat map shows a different direction

On a flat (Mercator) map, the straight line from Ibb to Mecca points to 330.9°, only 0.6° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 331.5° bearing remains the exact one.

How is the figure of 331.5° obtained? From the coordinates of Ibb (13.9667° N, 44.1833° E) and of the Kaaba (21.4225° N, 39.8262° E), spherical trigonometry gives the starting bearing of the great circle joining them. Mosque architects and astronomical Qibla tables rely on exactly the same calculation.

Distance from Ibb to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 949 km from Ibb as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 1,262 km away. The distance is short enough that many pilgrims from Ibb travel to the Hijaz by road.

Clocks in Ibb run the same time as Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Ibb rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Ibb

On 109 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Ibb while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in May (31 days); for example, on 1 May 2027 it happens at 12:03 local time.

On 255 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 10:46.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Ibb: at 12:18 and 12:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Ibb compared with other cities

Compared with Sanaa, 154 km away, the Qibla in Ibb is turned 5.3° further clockwise (331.5° against 326.3°), and Mecca is 131 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Taiz (46 km), prays towards 333.6°, a difference of 2.1°.

Across the 7 cities in Yemen on this site, the Qibla ranges from 309.2° in Mukalla to 336.3° in Al Hudaydah, a spread of 27.1°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Yemen.

Qibla in cities near Ibb

• Taiz333.6° · 46 km
• Dhamar328.3° · 68 km
• Sanaa326.3° · 154 km
• Aden330.8° · 161 km
• Al Hudaydah336.3° · 161 km
• Mukalla309.2° · 536 km