Qibla Direction Finder

Great-circle bearing

Finding the qibla without a phone

A magnetometer reads several degrees off indoors, and a phone runs out of charge. The sun does neither. Around midday the shadow of anything upright lies along the north–south line, and from that line the qibla is one turn away.

1. 01

   Stand a straight stick upright on level ground, where the sun reaches it through the middle of the day.

2. 02

   Mark the tip of its shadow every few minutes. The shadow shortens towards midday, then lengthens again — keep the shortest mark.

3. 03

   The line from the foot of the stick through that shortest mark runs true north and south. Which end is north depends on where you stand: north of the Tropic of Cancer the midday shadow points north, south of the Tropic of Capricorn it points south, and between them it changes with the season.

4. 04

   Face along that line towards north, then turn clockwise through the bearing for your own place — set a location above and the dial reads it out.

A needle compass points to magnetic north, which differs from true north by a few degrees in most places and by a good deal more in some. A shadow line carries no such error, and it needs only a straight stick, level ground and an hour of sun.