By Sara Ahmed · Updated August 1, 2026 · 3 min read
Finding the qibla — the direction of the Kaaba in Makkah — is the first step of every prayer for over a billion Muslims worldwide. From a familiar mosque it is trivial because the prayer hall is already aligned, but in a hotel room, an airport terminal, a co-working space or a friend's living room, you need a reliable way to find the direction yourself. Fortunately, a phone and a free web tool are all you need.
The Qibla Direction tool on Rash Tools uses your device's GPS to calculate the great-circle bearing from your exact location to the Kaaba. The angle is given in degrees clockwise from true north, which is what every compass app (and most magnetic compasses) will give you. Hold the device flat, align with the angle shown, and you are facing the qibla within a degree or two — well within any scholarly tolerance.
Two factors can throw a magnetic compass off. Magnetic declination is the difference between true north and magnetic north — anywhere from 0° to 20° depending on your location. Modern phone compass apps already correct for this; if you are using a hiking compass, add or subtract the local declination shown on the qibla tool. Avoid using the compass next to metal furniture, laptops or large speakers, which distort the magnetic field.
If you cannot get GPS — basement room, aeroplane, no signal — the tool also lets you type a city name. It uses the city's coordinates from a public dataset and gives the qibla direction from there, which is accurate to within a kilometre or two of where you actually are. That tiny error makes no real difference to the qibla angle for any practical purpose.
Once you know the angle, mark it. A small piece of tape on the floor of a regular prayer spot, a saved photo of the room with an arrow drawn on it, or the qibla sticker some hotels place on the ceiling all save you from re-checking before every prayer. Pair the tool with Prayer Times on Rash Tools and you have the two pieces of information every traveller needs in a single browser tab.
