Qibla direction from Columbus

Qibla (قبلة) is Arabic for "direction". In Islam it is the direction Muslims face when they pray (salah): toward the Kaaba in Makkah.

Toward the Kaaba, in the Grand Mosque (Al-Masjid al-Haram) in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, wherever they are in the world. This page gives that direction for any place, in degrees from true north and as a line on a map.

It depends on where you are, because the Qibla is the direction of the Kaaba from your location. From London it is southeast, from New York northeast, from Dubai west and from Singapore northwest.

The Kaaba (الكعبة, "the cube") is the cube-shaped building at the center of the Grand Mosque in Makkah. Muslims believe it was built by the Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) and his son Ismail, peace be upon them. Muslims everywhere face it when they pray.

Makkah, also spelled Mecca, is in western Saudi Arabia, inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea coast. It is the holiest city in Islam, the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the city Muslims travel to for Hajj and Umrah.

Because the Earth is round. The shortest path from North America to Makkah (a great circle) leaves heading northeast and crosses the Atlantic, even though Makkah looks east or southeast on a flat map. Most mosques in North America face northeast for this reason; a few communities use the flat-map direction instead. This page shows the shortest path.

Search for your city, or tap "Use my location". The page shows the bearing in degrees from true north and a line on the map from where you are to the Kaaba. On a phone, tap "Start live compass" and turn until the page says you are facing the Qibla.

True north is the direction of the North Pole, and the bearing on this page is measured from it. A magnetic compass points to magnetic north, which can be several degrees away: more than 10 degrees in parts of North America. The live compass on this page corrects for the difference using the World Magnetic Model, and the page gives the bearing to set on an ordinary compass for your place.

A phone compass is thrown off by metal, magnets, magnetic cases and nearby electronics. Hold the phone flat and away from them. If the heading jumps around, move the phone in a figure-eight a few times to calibrate it, then check the result against the line on the map.

The green line on the map runs from your location to the Kaaba along the shortest path. Zoom in, find a street, wall or landmark that runs the same way as the line, and face along it.

A Qibla compass is a magnetic compass with a dial for the Qibla. Its booklet gives a number for your city: turn the dial to that number, let the needle settle, and the marked direction is the Qibla. Keep it away from metal and electronics; inside buildings it can be less accurate.

Use the line on this page's map with a landmark you can see. In a mosque, the mihrab shows the Qibla. Twice a year the sun is directly over the Kaaba, around 27–28 May at 12:18 and 15–16 July at 12:27 Makkah time: anyone who can see the sun at that moment faces the Qibla by facing the sun. Under the map, this page shows that moment in your time and the times today when the sun lines up with the Qibla where you are.

Many Muslim-friendly hotels mark the Qibla in the room, often with a sticker on the ceiling or inside a drawer; ask at reception if you can't find one. On a plane the Qibla changes as you fly, so use the in-flight prayer times tool, which shows it hour by hour.

Yes. The bearing is calculated from your coordinates, so it works anywhere on Earth: search for a city, use your location, or pick a country from the list on this page.

The Qibla in the UK is southeast (about 118° to 119° from true north), depending on the city.

From true north: London 119.0°, Birmingham 118.0°, Manchester 118.5°, Leeds 119.5°, Glasgow 118.3°.

The Qibla in the USA is northeast (about 24° to 58° from true north), depending on the city.

From true north: New York 58.5°, Washington 56.6°, Chicago 48.7°, Houston 45.5°, Los Angeles 23.9°.

The Qibla in Canada is north to northeast (about 17° to 59° from true north), depending on the city.

From true north: Toronto 54.6°, Montréal 58.7°, Calgary 25.0°, Vancouver 16.7°.

The Qibla in Australia is west to northwest (about 277° to 295° from true north), depending on the city.

From true north: Sydney 277.5°, Melbourne 278.8°, Brisbane 280.3°, Adelaide 283.3°, Perth 295.4°.

The Qibla in Malaysia is west to northwest (about 291° to 293° from true north), depending on the city.

From true north: Kuala Lumpur 292.5°, George Town 291.6°, Johor Bahru 293.0°, Kuching 292.1°, Kota Kinabalu 290.6°.

The Qibla in Indonesia is west to northwest (about 292° to 295° from true north), depending on the city.

From true north: Jakarta 295.2°, Bandung 295.2°, Surabaya 294.0°, Medan 292.8°, Denpasar 293.8°, Makassar 292.5°.

The Qibla in India is west (about 267° to 288° from true north), depending on the city.

From true north: New Delhi 266.6°, Mumbai 280.1°, Hyderabad 282.7°, Bangalore 288.5°, Chennai 288.0°, Kolkata 278.2°.

The Qibla in Pakistan is west (about 256° to 268° from true north), depending on the city.

From true north: Karachi 267.8°, Lahore 260.3°, Islamabad 255.9°.

The Qibla in the UAE is west (about 258° to 260° from true north), depending on the city.

From true north: Dubai 258.3°, Abu Dhabi 260.0°, Sharjah 257.8°.

The Qibla in Singapore is 293.0° from true north (northwest). The Kaaba is 7,275 km away.

A mihrab (محراب) is the niche in the wall of a mosque that shows the direction of the Qibla. The imam leads the prayer standing in front of it.

Qibla is the Arabic word قِبْلَة, so it is spelled several ways in English: Qibla, Qiblah and Qiblat, or with a K: Kibla, Kiblah and Kiblat. Sometimes "Al" ("the") is added: Al Qibla. Qibla is the most common spelling.