The qibla is on the east side of north for most of Europe, Africa and the Americas. It is on the west side for the Gulf, most of Asia and Australia. Two longitudes draw that border: 39.8 E and 140.2 W. So is qibla east or west for you? Compare your longitude, or get your city's exact number.
Is qibla east or west of north?
Your longitude alone decides the side. Anywhere between 140.2 W and 39.8 E, the qibla falls in the eastern half of the compass, from 0 to 180 degrees. Everywhere else it falls in the western half, from 180 to 360.
The 39.8 E line runs north to south through Makkah (Mecca), the city of the Kaaba and its exact location. The 140.2 W line is its far half, on the opposite side of the Earth. The rule works because you always take the shorter way round. If Makkah's longitude is less than 180 degrees east of yours, the shorter path leaves eastward. Past that, west is shorter.
A few cities show how sharp the border is:
- Mombasa, Kenya, sits at 39.7 E, just inside the eastern half. Its bearing is 0.4 degrees.
- Mogadishu, Somalia, sits at 45.3 E, just past Makkah's line. Its bearing is 344.9.
- Chicago, at 87.7 W, faces 48.7. Anchorage (149.9 W) and Honolulu (157.9 W) have crossed 140.2 W, so they face 350.9 and 336.9.
Is qibla north or south?
Most of Europe tips south of the east-west line, while almost all of the Americas, East Africa and South-East Asia tip north. Only the far south of Chile and Argentina tips south, as in Punta Arenas (92.9). The border is a curved line, not Makkah's latitude. Across Europe, Africa and South Asia, living north of the curve tips the qibla south of the east-west line. Living south of the curve tips it north. The curve sits near 27 N in Algeria and northern India. It climbs further from Makkah, to about 32 N near Lhasa and 38 N at longitude 100 E in Gansu, China. Across the USA, Canada and Japan, every city tips north.
Birmingham, far above the curve, faces 117.9, south of east. Lucknow, just under it, faces 270.9, barely north of west. Living level with Makkah does not put it straight across. Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh, at 21.44 N, faces 280.1. Havana, at 23.13 N, faces 56.0.
Which side is qibla from your country?
The qibla is roughly north-east from most of the USA, east-southeast from the UK, north from coastal Kenya and west from Pakistan. The table gives the word for more countries, each with one example city. "Side" tells you which half of the compass the number falls in.
| Country (example city) | Side of north | In words | Degrees |
|---|---|---|---|
| USA, East Coast (New York) | East | East-northeast | 58.5 |
| USA, Midwest (Chicago) | East | North-east | 48.7 |
| USA, West Coast (Los Angeles) | East | North-northeast | 23.9 |
| Alaska (Anchorage) | West | North | 350.9 |
| Hawaii (Honolulu) | West | North-northwest | 336.9 |
| Canada (Toronto) | East | North-east | 54.6 |
| Mexico (Mexico City) | East | North-east | 46.6 |
| Brazil (Sao Paulo) | East | East-northeast | 68.9 |
| Argentina (Buenos Aires) | East | East-northeast | 76.3 |
| United Kingdom (Birmingham) | East | East-southeast | 117.9 |
| Norway (Oslo) | East | South-east | 139.0 |
| Russia (Moscow) | East | South | 176.4 |
| Turkey (Istanbul) | East | South-southeast | 151.6 |
| Morocco (Marrakesh) | East | East | 91.4 |
| Nigeria (Lagos) | East | East-northeast | 63.2 |
| Egypt (Cairo) | East | South-east | 136.2 |
| Sudan (Khartoum) | East | North-east | 48.6 |
| Kenya (Mombasa) | East | North | 0.4 |
| South Africa (Johannesburg) | East | North-northeast | 14.6 |
| Somalia (Mogadishu) | West | North-northwest | 344.9 |
| Yemen (Sanaa) | West | North-northwest | 326.3 |
| Iraq (Baghdad) | West | South-southwest | 199.9 |
| Iran (Tehran) | West | South-west | 218.5 |
| UAE (Dubai) | West | West | 258.8 |
| Afghanistan (Kabul) | West | West-southwest | 250.8 |
| Pakistan (Karachi) | West | West | 267.7 |
| India (Lucknow) | West | West | 270.9 |
| Bangladesh (Dhaka) | West | West | 277.7 |
| Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) | West | West-northwest | 292.5 |
| Indonesia (Jakarta) | West | West-northwest | 295.2 |
| Japan (Tokyo) | West | West-northwest | 293.0 |
| Australia (Sydney) | West | West | 277.5 |
| New Zealand (Auckland) | West | West | 261.2 |
One country can hold a wide spread. Peshawar faces 254.1 while Karachi faces 267.7, and Srinagar faces 256.8 while Bengaluru faces 288.5. The USA even crosses the border, as Chicago and Anchorage show. A long trip moves your number too, so the bearing from home stops applying once you land.
Where qibla is exactly north, east, south or west
Due north runs through coastal Kenya and Tanzania, and due east through southern Morocco. Due south runs through southern Russia and south-east Turkey, and due west through northern India and Nepal.
| Compass point | Within about 2 degrees | Close, but not exact |
|---|---|---|
| North (0) | Mombasa 0.4, Dar es Salaam 1.1 | Addis Ababa 4.7 |
| East (90) | Marrakesh 91.4, Agadir 89.3 | Casablanca 93.7 |
| South (180) | Rostov-on-Don 179.7, Voronezh 178.8, Krasnodar 178.0, Diyarbakir 181.3 | Moscow 176.4 |
| West (270) | Lucknow 270.9, Agra 269.1, Kanpur 271.1, Gwalior 270.5, Kathmandu 271.7, Ulaanbaatar 268.4, Jaipur 268.4 | Delhi 266.6, Karachi 267.7, Muscat 266.5 |
So "is the qibla at 270?" gets a clean yes only along that narrow belt. Lucknow and Agra land within 1 degree of due west.
Why is qibla north east in America?
The qibla is north-east from the USA and Canada because the shortest route to Makkah over a round Earth starts out north-east. It crosses the Atlantic and curves back down. That route is a great circle, the shortest line you can draw on a globe.
A flat map hides the curve. Hold a ruler across a Mercator wall map from Chicago to Makkah, and it aims south of east. That ruler line is a rhumb line: one fixed heading, and a longer trip. The table sets it beside the real bearing.
| City | Ruler line on a flat map | Real qibla | Gap in degrees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 95.2 | 23.9 | 71 |
| Chicago | 100.8 | 48.7 | 52 |
| New York | 101.3 | 58.5 | 43 |
| Tokyo | 260.7 | 293.0 | 32 |
| Dhaka | 267.2 | 277.7 | 10 |
| Lagos | 67.0 | 63.2 | 4 |
In this table the gap shrinks as you get closer to Makkah: 71 in Los Angeles, 4 in Lagos. So the ruler matters most in North America, where it can turn north-east into a heading south of east.
Most Muslims follow the curved route, and a minority use the ruler line, according to Wikipedia's qibla article. Askimam answer 126380, approved by Mufti Ebrahim Desai, says: "The correct direction of the Qibla for North America is towards Northeast". Darul Iftaa Chicago gives "north to northeast". IslamQA answer 7535 takes the map view and places California to the east with a slight lean south. If your family used south-east for years, the rulings on past prayers have their own page. Where your mosque's line differs from these numbers, speak with its imam before you change anything.
Is qibla always east, west or north?
No. It changes with your position. Quran 2:144 tells believers to turn toward al-Masjid al-Haram from wherever they are, and it names a place, not a compass word. That place is the reason behind the word qibla. Each regional shortcut below breaks somewhere.
| What people often hear | What the bearings show |
|---|---|
| "Muslims face east" | Close in Lisbon (97.9). Dakar (73.9) and Lima (72.0) lean north of east. Europe can reach south (Murmansk 171.5) |
| "Asia faces west" | Not Jordan (Amman 160.9), Syria (Damascus 164.6) or Kuwait (Kuwait City 224.6) |
| "Africa faces east" | Not Ethiopia (Addis Ababa 4.7), Uganda (Kampala 18.1) or DR Congo (Kinshasa 42.1) |
| "South of the equator, face north" | Fits Tanzania (Dar es Salaam 1.1). Fails in Australia, New Zealand and Argentina |
The hadith about east and west (Jami at-Tirmidhi 342, graded sahih by Al-Albani) was said to the people of Madinah, as IslamQA answer 7535 explains. Their qibla is almost due south (176.3), and how much leeway the hadith gives is a separate question. An old mosque will not settle your bearing either, because some mihrabs keep a line set centuries ago.
Qibla in space, at the poles and the antipode
In orbit, at the poles and at the point opposite Makkah, the east or west question stops working. On the International Space Station the direction to Makkah "changes significantly within a few seconds", in the words of Wikipedia's qibla article. The Malaysian National Fatwa Council set an order before Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor's 2007 flight, "based on what is possible". It runs from the Kaaba to the point above it at orbit height, then the Earth in general, then "wherever". Air travel raises a milder version, with a plane's heading that turns with the route.
At the North Pole every direction is south, and at the South Pole every direction is north. The qibla there follows the 39.8 E line. The antipode, the exact opposite point on Earth, lies at 21.4 S, 140.2 W in the South Pacific, about 1,075 km from Papeete in Tahiti. From that spot every direction is an equally short route of 20,015 km. On set dates the sun passes over the Kaaba and over this far point.
Can the Kaaba be seen from space?
Not by eye. The station orbits about 370 to 460 km up, and a building about 12 m across is far too small to pick out from there. A long lens can do it. NASA published an astronaut photo taken on 29 July 2023 with a 1,150 mm lens, and the Kaaba shows as a "small cube". At night, the brightly lit mosque around it is what stands out.
Which side to face for namaz
For namaz, take your own city's bearing and not the compass word you grew up with. Set the line once by marking it on your floor or wall. Your handset can give the first reading, using the steps for a phone compass. If you have neither phone nor compass, the stars or a nearby landmark can guide you.
FAQ
Which side is qibla on a compass?
With north at the top, a qibla number under 180 sits on the right-hand half of the dial. A number over 180 sits on the left. A needle compass reads from magnetic north, not true north, so use the number the qibla finder lists for a magnetic compass.
Does the Kaaba face north?
No. Wikipedia's Kaaba article says its four corners roughly point to the four compass directions, and its door is in the north-eastern wall. In the Masjid al-Haram, rows form circles around it, so worshippers face it from every side.
Is qibla west from Pakistan and India?
Roughly west, yes, but the lean changes by city. Islamabad (255.8) faces west-southwest. Karachi (267.7) and Delhi (266.6) are a few degrees south of due west. Further south the number climbs past 270: Mumbai faces 280.1, a little north of west. Check your own city and not your country.
Did early US mosques face south-east?
Most faced east or south-east. The Islamic Center of Washington, built in 1953, faced slightly north of east, though its great-circle bearing is about 56.6. S. Kamal Abdali's 1978 book argued for north or north-east, and many mosques turned. Most North American Muslims now follow that view, with a minority keeping east or south-east.
Conclusion
A compass word puts you in the right half of the horizon, but it cannot tell you where to lay your mat. Take your number from the table or the finder, then test it against a shadow on a sunny day. If the two disagree, trust neither until you have checked again.