Qibla direction in Lusaka

How to face the Qibla in Lusaka

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards north and move a further 17.4° towards east: the result is the bearing of 17.4°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at north would leave you about 17° 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 Lusaka, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. Any of the mosques of Lusaka 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 Lusaka to Mecca points to 17.1°, only 0.3° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 17.4° bearing remains the exact one.

How is the figure of 17.4° obtained? From the coordinates of Lusaka (15.4067° S, 28.2871° 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 Lusaka to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 4,284 km from Lusaka as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 4,601 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 5 h 32 min, although most pilgrims from Lusaka connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Lusaka run 1 hour behind Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Lusaka rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Lusaka

On 271 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Lusaka while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in March (31 days); for example, on 15 February 2027 it happens at 12:17 local time.

On 94 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 12:21.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Lusaka: at 11:18 and 11:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Lusaka compared with other cities

The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Kafue (42 km), prays towards 17.4°, the same bearing to the tenth of a degree.

Across the 16 cities in Zambia on this site, the Qibla ranges from 11.5° in Chipata to 24.5° in Mongu, a spread of 13.0°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Zambia.

Qibla in cities near Lusaka

• Kafue17.4° · 42 km
• Mazabuka18.0° · 76 km
• Kabwe17.5° · 108 km
• Luanshya18.1° · 253 km
• Ndola17.9° · 275 km
• Kitwe18.6° · 290 km