I’ve been working on a little project utilizing the google maps api to make a Qibla direction locator. It works almost exactly like google maps except that it displays an overlay pointing towards the Qibla. The direction in degrees from true North is also given at the bottom of the page. Another nifty feature is a map-in-map view much like pic-in-pic view found on most new TV sets. As this is pretty much a work in progress, I’m sure you’ll notice many bugs. Please do let me know.
Head on out and take a look for your self. Be sure to leave your comments.
Note: May not work on Safari
Hi,
Your Qibla Locator works as a charm! Well done and very useful.
May I suggest not to use grey, blue or purple texts against a black background – this does not show well on many screens. Why not use a simple white background?
The qibla direction, geographical data and distance are shown with far too many decimals – their spurious accuracy may confuse users. Four or five decimals should be sufficient and the output bar will look nicer.
Many non Anglo-Saxon users would prefer to see the distance given in kilometers, not in miles. Why not add an option so that the user can choose the units. Other users may also prefer to have the angular data given in arcminutes and arcseconds instead of decimal degress.
Keep up the good work!
Thanks for the great feedback Robert. This is exactly what i’m looking for; feedback from users so I can imporve the application. I’ll definitely look into your suggestions and try and work them in.
AoA,
Great work!
I am putting together a website for my mosque and I would like to integrate qibla locator into the website (without requiring to jump out of the site). I’d very much appreciate your feedback on this.
Wassalam
Wa’alaikum Assalam,
Jazzakallah Khair. You could use iframes to load this page in your site. That would actually load qibla locator but seem as if it was on your masjids site.
At the moment I am focusing in fixing some of the bugs with the qibla locator and don’t plan in making a seperate module that essentially does the same thing.
Wassalam
I am new in Harvard university Cambridge. The qibla according to this software is in Northeast of Cambridge MA USA, whereas if you look at globe, Saudi Arabia is in the Southeast of Cambridge. This is confusing to find out the rifgt direction of Qibla. Please guide !
AssalamuAlaikum Dr Hamdani,
I’m glad you asked that question. Your confusion arises from the fact that you are looking a flat map of the earth. If you were to look at a real spherical globe you would note that the qibla IS indeed in the Northeast. For a detailed explanation I would like to point you to http://moonsighting.com/qibla.html. This site also mentions several alternate ways to find out the qibla direction all of which back the direction given by the qibla locator.
Wassalam
Assalaamu aleykum,
Like all the others, I really appreciate your site. I am using it to help a local mosque here in UK to get set up properly.
One point is unclear. Are your bearings in degrees from True North or from Magnetic North? I’m pretty sure it’s True North. Since most people would use your maps in conjunction with a compass, I think that it’s very important that you avoid confusion (and argument!!!) by making this clear.
Meanwhile, jazaakullah
Walaikum Assalam Peter,
Thank you for your comment. You are correct. The North represented in the maps is the True North and NOT the magnetic North. I hope this takes care of any confusion.
Wassalam
As salam Alykum
This is a great work, may Allah reward you in this life and the day after..
Would you be welling to share the script you are using with us to integrate with our services, specially the prayer times?
Please let us know.
This tool is fabulous and gives you the unbeleivable convinience to layout new mosques. I’m an architect and working on a Mosque project in America. I wasn’t sure about the accuracy of the angle your formula provides. So I started applying this locator on some famous existing mosques. Some of them (incl Badshahi Mosque of Lahore of Mughal era) follow truly the direction suggested by the LOCATOR where as many other famous Mosques which are built in recent past show quite noticeable variance from the angle suggested by the locator. Among them are Faisal Mosque of Islamabad and the largest moque in Middle east (other than the Haramain) which is recently built in Muscat Oman. Could you please comment on this. I would be obliged.
Wassalm
Ahmed
Assalamualaikum Brother
May Allah reward you in abundance for taking this initiative. Great job..
-Farhan
Assalamu’Alaikum Br Ahmed,
I’m sorry I couldn’t tend to your question in time. The equations I used for determining the qibla are based upon spherical trigonometry. These were obtained from Dr. Mohibullah N.Durrani’s website at http://www.islamworld.net/qibla.html . The accuracy of these equations can be verified and have been verified (read last paragraph) to be almost the same using the method of locating the qibla using the sun which is the most reliable method to date. I would suggest you not to rely on just any one method but use as many possible ways to determine the qibla.
As far as commenting on the variance of the angle of certain recent masajid I don’t think I have anything to say about it other than use as many methods known in finding the qibla accurately. And Allah knows best.
Lastly, I would like to ask you to make dua for me and all Muslims. Please try and keep me informed on your findings and the approach you take in finding the qibla.
Wassalam
Ibn Mas’ud
May Allah reward you over and over.
– Salah
Hi and Happy Ramadan.
This tool is very usefull. Thanks for providing it. Looking at the direction you show for North China or Mongolia, it does not look correct. Can you check? Also check Greenland …
Thanks,
–Mehdi
Assalam Alaykum Muslim Brother,
I am studying in Houston, Texas and Ur qibla locator helps me alot.
Thank you.
Assalam-u-alaikom.
Thanks a lot for the nice job. As you correclty
have mentioned, the direction is given with respect to
True North. Nevertheless, most people use a compass to
find the direction, and so, they have the Magnetic
North instead. As the difference between True and
Magnetic North could be quite consdierable, do you
have any suggestion for people who simply use a compass?
Thanks a lot again,
Mohammad.
Assalamu alaikum ,
Br Mehdi,The directions given at the locations you mention are correct. Perhaps you might want to readup on this site why this is the correct direction.
Br Mohammad, One of the main features of the qiblalocator is that one does not need to use a compass at all. Just by looking at the map and locating your surrounding landmarks you can face the qibla by following the red line.
wassalam,
ibn Mas’ud
Assalamu alaikum, from Russia. Thank you for the useful site. May Allah reward you ovet and over!
it’s a great work. and quite interesting in checking on the direction of existing mosques. and immensely useful for new mosque construction.
please advise on future release or version.
jazakallahu khayr.
Salam Alaikum brother Ibn-e-Mas’ud.
JazakAllah Khairun for such an excellent effort.
I recently moved to another place in Houston and wasn’t sure of Qibla direction and Alhamdolillah your website solved the problem. I checked and verified the direction from some cities in U.S. and Pakistan, like Hyderabad, and found it correct.
Only Allah Subhanahu Wa Tuala can reward your this great service to Islam, we offer sincere gratitude. I must say I am really proud of you!
Kindest regards,
Masroor
Assalamu alaikum,
I am living in Japan and had difficulties to find the qiblah in my home. Thanks to Allah (CC) it was easy to find your homepage using to Google.
Your website is very usefull and can be good help for all the people who move different countries which lack from common knowlegde of Islam and Qiblah.
I will write in my Blog about your Qiblah Locator so more people can be helped and find easily the Qiblah.
My Blog can be found at http://feridun.info
Thanks a lot again,
Ferudun
Brilliant idea, like the Muslims of old, using and improving on tools to further the science of astronomy to locate the Holy Kaaba.
May He forever be pleased with the son of Mas’ud and the father who taught him how to think.
Salam Alaikum brother Ibn-e-Mas’ud.
I recently moved to Netherlands from Bahrain. I was clearly lost out on how to determine the Qiblah direction here. I googled it and found that you have made our lives really easier. This tool is very useful.
May Allah reward you.
I would really like to thank you for this program. I just realized that I have been praying in the opposite directoin for the last 5 months. God bless you!
Assalamualaikum ya brother,
I write to you from Abuja,Nigeria,where we are trying to set-out a new mosque for construction and are determined to get the orientation in perfect alignment to the holy Kaaba.After a lengthy search on the ‘net i zeroed in on your site which subsequently served our purpose perfectly. I can only say to you – jazakallahu khairan.
Masalam.
Salam Alaikum brother,
JazakAllah Khairun. Great work. May Allah reward you.
Mehmet
Brother Ibn e masud
Slam o Alikom!!
May Allah give y millions of ajr and sawab for yr brilliant extra useful work.This is a great gift for those muslim brothers who lives in western countries.As Qibla is one of the signs of unity for Muslims,May Allah gives Toufiq to brings all the hearts of Muslims closer any where in the world,and make them Bunyan Marsoos.All the best.Jazakallah Khair.
AoA,
Really great website… ever since I moved to the US, I have been locating the qibla by myself, sorting out directions with my Islamic Center’s direction of qibla. I wasn’t very sure ever, but now that my friend referred your website, I am more confident about the qibla directions and happy that I’d be able to locate it where ever I go. Thank you!
Assalamu Alaikum
Great tool! I am a Muslim and an Architect who designs masjids as part of my practice. We are reasonably technically savvy and have used Google Earn (along with MS Virtual Earth) for a while now. I have written several emails directly to Google with a comparable idea for them to incorporate INTO Google Earth but they’ve never replied. Your program/website seems to use Google Earth, but does not run in it.
Has Google ever considered incorporating the Qibla locator into the main program? Ideally, the Qibla could be shown graphically as a series of concentric circles growing or eminating outward from the Kabba to any point on earth. This would be an invaluable tool to be able to graphically explain the qibla to Muslims worldwide. Not just locate the Qibla, but EXPLAIN it too. Think about how Google Earth pans from a world view to your location. Perhaps it could do it from the Kabba to your location, following the ever increasing series of concentric circles originating at the Kabba. That’s the idea.
Furthermore, you may consider a link to http://www.Islamicfinder.net. This site can calculate the qibla along with prayer times for any location worldwide. It just lacks a graphical interface and explanation.
Again, GOOD JOB!
Dear Brother
Thank you very much for this service. I am a Muslim Elhamdulillah and living in the US and your website helped me alot. May God give you billions of saevvap for this efficient work.I will prey that May God reward you.
BEST
Sister Gabby
Dear Brother
It is an excellent easy to use method to locate the direction of Qibla. May Allah Bless you and reward you for your efforts.
Regards
Alhamdoliillah…. 2 good my friend… Inshallah u get everything u need…. I am also a software eng but u have made a good thing…. @least i found qibla in Houston, TX. Thanxl
السلام عليكم ورØمة الله Ùˆ بركاته,
جزاك الله خيرا على اجتهادك,Ùانا كنت اصلي ÙÙŠ اتجاه مخال٠تماما للقبلة
ان شاء الله سو٠اعمل على اخبار جميع المسلمين هنا( لقد وجدت هداالموقع صدÙØ©) جزاك الله خيرا.
ليلى
Salam aleykom
Barakara’o fik for your work
May ALLAH to give you pâradise
Thanks a lot!
Assallam Allaykum,
Very beneficial indeed; may Allah Almighty bless you and reward your efforts.
Your brother Bilal from Melbourne, Australia.
Salam
MashaAllah Your work is great, InshaAllah definitely you will get millions and millions of rewards from our Lord, and I’m at Sydney, Australia. My small blog’s ( http://www.aussitamilmuslim.blogspot.com ) visitor using your Qibla locator wherever they Travel to different places its amazing
Before use your Qibla Locator i tested with different masjid qibla -its unique not much different
zijakallah
khalid sydney
Assalamu alaikum dear brother,
Mashallah it is a excellent tool and Inshallah Allah SWT will reward you for this service.
Ali
Dear brother, i am very happy to see that this kind of website exists. It’s a really good idea you had. Thank you for helping us. It’s difficult to pray when we travel and don’t know the direction of Qibla. It will be more easy now. God reward you and all muslims.
Dear brother Ibn Masud,
Assalamo alaikum,
I was thinking to use Google maps for finding directions based on heuristics. But to my intense surprise, you have already provided a nice and accurate way of doing the same. May the Almighty Allah reward you for your efforts. Jazakallah,
Salamo alaikum,
Very Useful tool, specially for travellers.
Your application is wonderful. You solved my problem. This is a good use of technology.
Jazakallahu Khayran
Dear brother ,
your website works like a charm …
I think you should modify the section under “How to use this map” by :
1- removing the phrase “US only” that is written after Zip Code, I live in the UK and I entered my zip code and the tool worked perfectly
2- adding translations to this section helping non-English speaking users to use the tool
thank you for this great tool and Jazak Allahu Kheran…
Allah reward you for this great effort to help find the qibla direction.
8803 hayshed ln columbia md 21045 usa.
AoA
This tool very helpful.Thank you so much and keep up the good work
Wallah thats is great and easy to use. jazakallah
Jazak Allahu Khairan,
There is a very useful application.
I’ve read Laila’s post, and I would almost tear in cry, to feel how would an individual can change lives remotely.
May Allah Reward You Brother.
Assalamou alaïkoum,
I think that could be only one in this world to think about this projetc and that was you ibn Mas’ud.
The map works as if by magic.
Thank you for your efforts.
Allah bless you.
Assalaamu alaikum
Great Job!!!
I just wanted to inform you that I put a link from our association’s website to your locater. hope you don’t mind. http://www.mahvoice.ca
Absolutely brilliant. Im so happy that I can now say my friday prayers at work knowing that I am praying in the right direction.
God bless you.
kindest regards
Noreen
aoa
i was looking to help my sona t university in north wales,uk, and have just sent him your qibla finder program
ws
with duas for you and the ummah
rashid bhatti
I recently had this website forwarded to me, and I wasn’t sure if I was praying the right direction. With this website I was able to confirm it. Thank you for this website. This will help me tremendously no matter where I go.
Ali U.S.A
My God! You guyz saved me in the month of ramadan, thank you so much for this great tool. May Allah bless you all associated with this project
Assalam Alaikum,
Very amazing work, it really helped us in finding that we were praying in the wrong direction for a long time. Thanks a lot once again.
Jaza kamullah Khair,
Salam Alaikum,
Extremely useful site. Helped me to locate exact direction However I find that my Mumbai address cannot be found on the site. Is India not included so far?
Thank you for the great job. I will share this information with others.
Salams
What a great tool!!
Just one feature which im sure will help lots of people is it possible to add a cirle thing so we can turn the map round. This will help in getting our bearings right. eg if a high st is physically to my left but on map its on right id like to turn map so i get my qibla direction better.
Assalamu alaikum. thank you for simplifying a task and making it available to every one. a great job.
Although some persons have reasons for extreme precision in determining the direction of Qiblah but for day to day usage Muslims only need a reasonably accurate general direction. your program has solved both issues.
May Allah SWT reward you with the best in this world and in the Hereafter, for helping many of us (architects and travelers)- Ameen.
To those who wish to incorporates a link to this program on their site my request is that please do not forget to acknowledge Ibn Masood for his efforts and make a prayer for him.
Wassalamu alaikum. Moien
Assalam Alaikum,
Just a quick note to thank you for this fantastic tool. May Allah bless you for your noble efforts!
Salaam.
Assalamualaykum.
This is really fantastic. When out and about, I can use my mobile phone to get an accurate Qibla direction.
Thank you for your efforts.
I have placed the site in a Iframe as suggested above in our webisite – and it works perfectly!!!
http://www.islamleicester.com/QiblaLocator/tabid/136/Default.aspx
Asalaamu Alaikum,
JazakAllah for the application, it is very helpful.
Dear bro Ibn Masu’d
Assalamualaikkum varah,
You have been done marvel as job, its amazing it helps Musafer (traveller) very much may Allah reward you InshaAllah
Zijakkallah
Thanks lot
Khalid Sydney Australia
Keep up the good Technology Ideas Team.
This site has helped me identify the correct direction of the Qibla.
You will get many blessings from Allah for this Noble Cause.
Keep it up with the Google.
Maasallam!!!
Hi Everyone there.
Qiblalocator doesn’t work for north America at all, I live in New Jersey and when I put my zip code the Qiblalocator drew a line for me and when I zoomed it out the line was pointing towards Iceland not Saudi Arabia, the website administers should check this out for themselves.
This is great, muslims can get the direction to pray in where in the world where they have a computer. This is good bida (innovation) and we as Muslims should use it.
assalamu`alaikum wr wr
there is very very good for every muslim.
Asalamualaikum wa rahmatullah wa barakatahu
May Allah reward you for this great service you have provided to the ummah.
I have always had doubt with my magnetic and rather inconsistent qibla compasses. I now realise I have been out of line for the past 30 years or so.
JazakAllah khairan wa barakAllah fee
wasalam
Really neat idea and soooooo handy!
Shukran for your efforts towards the betterment of the Ummah! May The Almighty reward you and your family in abundance and grant you success in this world and the next! Aameen.
Great website!
May Allah Bless you in this life and the next and allow more people to benefit from you website, Ameen!
Assalaamu Alaikum, May Allah reward you for this endeavor, it is definitely worthwhile. I am in MD, Zip 20744 and Qibla-Locator indicates that the direction of the Qibla is northeast, however when I look at a map and a globe I see that the Qibla is actually Southeast of my location. Please explain your calculations and how this is derived as I am having a hard time validating your application when I look at a map.
May Allah continue to bless for your efforts.
Salaams,
Zaid
Thank you, this is one of the greatest tools I have seen in a very long time, it works like a charm and is very helpfull
During Ramadan when I check your web site and tried to locate the Qibla for state of New jersey USA it was showing me Iceland as the qibla and I posted a comment asking you to check the accuracy of the Qibla locator, but since my comment pointed a mistake on your side you removed it. I don’t think it is Islamic to deceive the people and cover the truth, the qibla locator doesn’t work for northeast America !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Salamou Alaykoum wa rahmatoullahi wa barakatouh,
My dear Brother, I’m an Indian Engineer working in Belgium.
MashaAllah, Your work is simply awesome, Wonderful. This is really helpful. May Allah reward you in this life and the HereAfter. Aameen.
I have my zip code as 6041. But when I just put 6041, I’m directed towards Australia, while mine is 6041, Charleroi, Belgium. So I think Country is mandatory with Zip code.
I hope you would not mind me forwarding your Qibla locator to my contacts. It is a great tool. Jazakallah khair. Wassalaam.
Salaam Alaikum Brother,
Subhan Allah. You have done an excellent and ever rewarding job, not only in this world but hereafter.
Im in a hotel in Toronto and was the prayer time and you have helped me finding the Qibla, sooooo very easy. I will not forget you in my prayers.
Keep doing the good job.
Raza Hyder – Toronto
Perfect Masha’Allah, I will book mark it on my itouch so when Im wireless I can use. I recommend those with the iphone to do the same.
S/A
Congratulations. This is very commendable. Its works fine. I have Apple Mac and the browser is Safari. So far I have just tried the locations I already know just to check if it points accurately and it does!
Mat Allah SWT Bless you.
Keep the good work going.
May Allah bless you for this amazing tool which has solved many an argument. Too bad I can’t use it on my iPhone’s Safari browser but it is still very handy. Jazak Allah Khairun.
Dear Brother:
As-salaamualaykum.
Somebody forwarded me your qibla locater link. Mashallah I was very happy and pleased with this work.
Just as a suggestion to make this work even more benefitting to the ummah, I think if you could get this “ENDORSED” or “CERTIFIED” by some MUFTIS and ULAMA, it would be even better.
I am not sure where you are, but if you are in the US, I think you should contact Shariah Board in Chicago (Mufti Nawalur Rahman Saab, etc.), or maybe even Mufti Desai Saab of S. Africa (ask-imam.com) or darul-iftaa.com (from UK).
If you could get them to comment on your work, more peopple would use it, and they would even inform others about your work.
Jazakallahu Khayraa.
Was salaam
Suhel Teli
Asalaam Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah
May Allah (SWT) reward you and your family for an excellent contribution to the Muslim Ummah. This will be a great Aid to those seeking a proper direction of the Qibla. Is there a possibility of allowing search by Latitude & Longitude, as it would help those who are in remort locations not covered by the maps.
Jazakallahu Khayran
Abdul Samad
Hi,
This website is very usefull, now we can find Qebla
and also finding locations.
Thank you for this good job.
Zakaria
Thank you for a great service,so functional, so easy to use.
Your Qibla Locator works as a charm! Well done and very useful.
Assalamu Alikum,
Very nice. May Allah reward you for your effort.
Khaled
Slam brooo,
thanks a million man this is soooooooo helpfun and so simple!!!
THANKS and may Allah reward you for this 🙂
Abdul
I have a development suggestion for ease of use:
if there are two locations with the same name, the search engine gives only one of them and no way to reach the other through the search command. for instance: there are two locations named (Duma) one in Sudan and one in Syria, the search engine givs only the one in Sudan.
The same thing for (Harasta) one in Syria and one in USA.
I suggest if the search results are listed in the margin so the user specifies which one he is looking for / OR if you make it possible for the search box to accept strings like:( Syria, Duma) or (Syria, Harasta)
Wajazakallahu khairan
Salam
Thank you for this excellent effort. I noticed that the direction in some places is not correct. For example, when I type Seattle, the red line point towards the north east!!.
Please advise.
Salaam,
Your Qibla Locator service is great. May God bless you and reward you with all the “Khayr”.
Alhamdolillah, this is so good & spot on.
It brought up my street in Sydney Australia in a second & verified what i knew to be the correct Qibla direction.
May the Almighty be very pleased with you & bless you all immensely. (AAmeen)
Please carry on aligning Islam & our daily Muslim routines with whatever goodness & convenience technology has to offer.
Best Regards:
SF
God bless you,keep up the good work,h,you have the brain,alhamdulillah,use it!
Salaams
Masha-allah your quibla calc. is awesome. You guys are truely blessed. Every travelling Muslim using your tool (worldwide) thanks you and your efforts for providing us with an answer to the most challenging question “where is quibla?”. My job entails frequent travelling and your calculator has proved to be invaluable. I’ve often used inaccurate compasses, and often guessed! But this is great.
J’zakallah.
Keep up the good work.
Assalamu alaikum, great work brother, may Allah grant you place in heaven for your effort.
Wassalam,
i have a good suggestion that i think it will be useful. i wish to find the direction of the qibla directly when i enter the qibla locator site without the hastle of trying to find where am i on the map .. i mean if you can take the IP address and at least open the Google map of the city i am in at the moment (from the IP Address ) that will be more than enought as a start point.
good luc
Assalamu’alaikum brother!
Alhamdulillah this is very good! I will implement iframes in my portal to help my countrymen further. With your permission of course 🙂
May Allah reward you for this excellent effort!
Salaam from Singapore!
http://www.islamicevents.sg
Assalamu-alaikum brother…. You have done an excellent job!! It has helped me in my travels…. May Allah reward you!! JazakAllah Khair…
Jazak Allah Khair.
Dear Brother,
This a very helpful Site may god reward you inshalla.
If I may say if you could put some extra effort to this site and if the prayer timings may be added to the major cities that can be found on this website by clicking on the city that is shown on the map.
God Bless AlUma
Salam Alikom Brother,
Your Qibla locator was working perfectly before. I used the site today and I found that it does not show the exact location in UK which it was before.
Hope you can fix this problem.
Abdulla
Dear Friends,
Assalamu Alaikum
Jazakum Allah Khair. This is an excellent example of putting the latest technologies to good use. I travel a lot around the world and find your Qibla locator extremely useful. May Allah bless and reward you for this excellent work. Do you realize that inshallah you will get Hasanat everytime someone uses your software and performs his prayers in the correct direction or if someone uses this module to correctly assign the Qibla direction of a mosque.
Finally, I have a simple request. Is it possible to have the module accept longitue and latitude.
Salam
Hadi
Great work, thank you very much. I read it on Turkey’s most selling daily newspaper Zaman and checked the site immeadeatly. Thanks again. May Allah bless you for this simple but great idea and may you be Mas’ud in both here in this world and beyond.
Was salaam
Assalamu alaikum,
This is fantastic work. I merely wanted to let you know that Gmaps now has a geodesic option to create polylines. This draws an “as the crow flies” line to Makkah. You can rip out that heavy code now 🙂
Subhan Allah wa Ma Sha’ Allah. This innovation is very unique, amazing, and helpful. I appreciate the effort that you put into making this program. Jazak Allah Khair
Abumelhim
Asalam-o-elekum
Dear Brother,
Qibla locater is miracle indeed, it is really a very big help to locate the right angle for qibla, i tried difference traditional qibla locater compass but didn’t get the right result but with your locater it clear the confusion. May ALLAH give you more strength inventing more helpful resources for muslim brother and sisters.
Jazak-Allah.
Best regards,
Rahat
May Allah reward you with good deeds for every person that finds his direction to Makka through your program.