Download Qibla Direction App !NEW!
Syed Kleiner
Muslims do not pray facing east or west wherever they are. They perform their prayers while facing Kaaba. As such, the Qibla direction depends on your location vis-à-vis Kaaba in Makkah. It could be East, West, North, South, etc.
These are standard compasses showing the direction of Qibla on the compass. When users align the needle of the compass to a specific number allocated to the city (provided in the booklet along with the compass), the resulting direction of Qibla marked on the compass is the prayer direction. This may not be accurate when used inside buildings.
With advent of mobile devices, the physical compasses are getting replaced by the online compasses available on Android and iPhone/iPad devices. This has given rise to the Online Qibla compasses mobile applications. These compasses will automatically detect the location (when online) and then show the Qibla direction. These compasses also may not be accurate when used inside buildings. HalalTrip mobile App available for both Android and iPhone/iPads has an Online Qibla Compass.
Online Qibla direction compass mobile applications will generally automatically detect the current location (when online) and then show the prayer direction, as is the case with the HalalTrip mobile app. On some apps the user may have to enter the location, then the compass will show the qibla direction (relative to TRUE North and not relative to compass North). HalalTrip.com website also provides an online compass which provides the Qibla direction relative to the TRUE North.
Locating the qibla direction using the google maps is very precise. It uses the great circle to show the qibla direction on a Google Map. Once you enter your location, the direction of qibla will be shown on the google map with a line drawn on the map. Zoom in the map and find the landmark to orient yourself to the qibla direction.
The best way to find the accurate Qibla direction for any location is to use a mobile application which provides both an online compass as well as the ability to locate the qibla using google maps. HalalTrip.com as well as the HalalTrip's mobile app for iPhone, iPad and Android let's you easily find the qibla direction for your house or for any location while you travel. The HalalTrip mobile app will instantly find your location and display the qibla direction. On the HalalTrip.com website, the user just needs to enter the location and the qibla direction will be shown.
The Qibla direction in UAE is generally West. The exact direction depends on the location in UAE. For Dubai, it is about 259 degrees from geographic north, for Abu Dhabi the direction is around 260 degrees and for Sharjah it is around 258 degrees.
The Qibla direction in India is generally West. The exact direction depends on the location in India. For Chandigarh, a city in the north of India, the direction is about 263 degrees from geographic north. For Madurai, located in the south, the direction is around 292 degrees. Here are directions for some of the main cities in India.
The Qibla direction in the USA is generally North-East. For New York, it is about 58 degrees from geographic north, for Los Angeles the direction is also 24 degrees and for Chicago it is around 49 degrees. Here are directions for some of the other main regions/cities in the USA:
I am very keen on knowing an universal qibla direction logic as I want to implement in my islamic android app. I have just obtained latitude and longitude of the user and irrespective of any lat, lon I want to find qibla direction for that person whether the person is in UK, US, India, Sri Lanka or any where.
I want to make a compass app which show the Directions along with the direction of Qibla(MAKKAH). I have installed many compass apps but no app is working on my device. I have Samsung Glaxy Core2. Please give me any solution or idea to develop such app and test on my device.Can my device support this App???
Determination of the Qibla direction and the beginning of prayer times is very important for the community, especially Moslems community. The purpose of this research is to obtain a spherical trigonometry application assisted by Microsoft Excel. The application for determination of the Qibla direction, Qibla time, and the beginning of prayer times were made by using analysis and deriving several angular relations in the spherical trigonometry, the distance between the observer city and the Kaaba, the changes of the daily declination of Sun, Equation of Time (EoT) and Microsoft Visual Basic (VB) in Microsoft Excel to facilitate processing. The result of calculation using this application were compared with the application on webpage jadwalsholat.org, that it was made using the provisions of the Indonesian Religion Ministry. The result obtained is very precise and high compatibility. It can be concluded that this application can be used properly to determine the Qibla direction and the beginning of prayer time at a place on the Earth surface.
The mosque is among the earliest mosques in Medina and was built by Sawad ibn Ghanam ibn Ka'ab al-Ansari in the Islamic year 2 AH,[1] and the name of the mosque goes back to the lifetime of Muhammad, when his companions named it after an event that took place on the 15th of Sha'baan the same year, when Muhammad received revelation from Allah instructing him to take the Kaaba as the qibla during the Dhuhr prayer, instead of Baytul Maqdis, which was the Masjid Al Aqsa in Jerusalem.[9] He later announced this to his companions in his own mosque, after which the news began to spread. Many pilgrims who go to Mecca for Hajj often visit Medina, where some visit this mosque because of its historical significance.[1]
The main prayer hall adopts rigid orthogonal geometry and symmetry which is accentuated by the use of twin minarets and twin domes. Living accommodations for the Imam, the Muezzin and the caretaker are discretely grouped in one block to the west of the main structure. The difference in level at the southeast corner of the site has been exploited to incorporate a sub-basement level which serves as the ablutions area for worshippers. To the north, where the ground level is lower, the prayer hall is raised one-storey above ground level. Entry to the prayer hall is from the raised courtyard, also to the north, which can be reached by stairs and ramps from the main directions of approach. The prayer hall consists of a series of arches which support barrel-vaults running parallel to the qibla wall. These vaults are interrupted by two domes which establish an axis in the direction of Mecca.[12]
The main dome to the south is raised on a drum of clerestory windows which allow light to filter into the interior directly above the mihrab. The second, false dome is linked to the first by a small cross-vault to symbolise the transition from one qibla to another. Below it, a replica of the mihrab found in the lower chamber of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem reminds onlookers of the oldest extant mihrab of Islam. Externally, the architectural vocabulary is inspired by traditional elements and motifs in a deliberate effort to offer an authentic image for the historic site.[12] The mosque is located on the north-west of the city of Medina, on Khalid ibn al-Walid Road. The mosque was initially maintained by Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattāb. The last pre-modern renovation was by Suleiman the Magnificent who reconstructed the mosque.
It is also important to remember that this endeavor is not meant to be excessively difficult. Remember that Allah tells us that He intends for us ease, not hardship (2:185) and that He does not burden a soul with more than it can bear (2:286). So while it is important to observe proper etiquette with the qibla, it is not expected of you to incur tremendous costs and labor to do so.
Unlike in earlier times, many Muslims nowadays use bathrooms with fixed toilets and sinks. Oftentimes, they do not have a say as what directions the toilets and sinks face. As such, it is understandable that many Muslims cannot deliberately observe the proper etiquette regarding the qibla, although it is still recommended for them to do what they can.
Can someone please explain the difference to me with regards to the magnetic north vs. true north. Which direction should one pray? Also, if one is travelling, can one face NE in general w/o searching for true north?
If one uses a compass, the compass does not help one regarding which way to face; it one helps one find North. Which north, though? Magnetic North. Therefore, when using a compass, one must already know the direction of the Kaaba in relation to Magnetic North.
When I first converted to Islam, one of the main things that amazed me completely was the fact that five times every single day, Muslims face toward the direction of the Kaaba to pray. This unity is not seen in any other religion other than Islam, and this cannot be reasoned out other than the staunch belief that drives our worship- the belief in the Oneness of God. However, finding the Qibla might still be a challenging task for some people especially if you are someone like me living in a non-Muslim majority country. I do not have the luxury of praying in a dedicated musollah or mosque at all times, where the Qibla direction is marked out for us. Especially while I am traveling to unfamiliar lands or even places within my own country, l need to use the available tools to find out my Qibla direction.
Not all apps have this, but if yours does, you can easily align yourself to the Qibla direction by zooming into the map and seeing where your building aligns to your position, and following the line that the map shows to direct yourself to the right Qibla direction. This eliminates the inaccuracy mentioned about in point 1 above, and I would recommend double checking with this method. Because this is SO IMPORTANT to double check, the TAKVA team has integrated this very important feature in their upcoming app MasjidHub. Not everyone knows this important way of double-checking, so do spread the word!
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