The sun aligned almost perfectly above the Holy Kaaba in Makkah on Thursday, May 28, 2026, giving Muslims around the world a natural way to verify the direction of the Qibla. According to the Saudi Press Agency, the moment occurred at 12.18 p.m. local time, coinciding with the call to the Dhuhr midday prayer.
Majed Abu Zahra, director of the Jeddah Astronomy Society, said the sun reached its closest point to complete alignment directly above the Kaaba at an altitude of 89.94 degrees. That left a difference of only about 0.06 degrees, roughly 3.6 arcminutes, from perfect alignment.
How the Phenomenon Works
Because the sun's rays struck the ground almost perpendicularly, the Kaaba and all vertical objects in Makkah briefly lost their shadows at that exact minute. That shadowless moment can be used anywhere on Earth to determine the accurate direction of the Qibla, the direction Muslims face during prayer.
Abu Zahra explained that the phenomenon occurs twice a year as the sun moves between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. Because Makkah lies at roughly 21.4 degrees north, the sun passes directly over the city's coordinates once during its northward journey in late May and again on its southward return in mid-July.
The technique carries scientific and educational weight, demonstrating planetary rotation and celestial mechanics in real time. Historians note that medieval Islamic scholars pioneered this shadowless method to calibrate the alignment of distant mosques across continents, long before modern instruments existed.
The phenomenon is known in Arabic as the Qibla solar transit. When the sun sits directly overhead at the Kaaba, a person anywhere on the daylit side of the Earth can face the sun at that exact minute and be certain they are facing Makkah. The method requires no equipment and no calculation, which is why it remained a trusted reference for surveyors and mosque builders across the Islamic world for centuries.
A Rare Overlap With Eid
This year's alignment carried added significance because it coincided with the second day of Eid al-Adha. Since the Islamic calendar is lunar and shifts backward by around 10 to 11 days each year against the solar calendar, a precise intersection where the solar zenith lands during the peak days of the Hajj and Eid season occurs only once every 33 years. Astronomers say the last comparable overlap was 33 years ago, and the pattern will not recur in the same way until 2059.
The Jeddah Astronomy Society noted that the previous day also produced a close alignment, with the sun reaching 89.89 degrees, but Thursday's reading marked the true astronomical peak for this cycle and the most precise moment of the year for shadow-based Qibla verification.
Clarifying the Heat Question
Intense overhead positioning of the sun often prompts public speculation about extreme regional heat. Saudi Arabia's National Center for Meteorology clarified that such alignments do not directly cause unprecedented heatwaves. While solar radiation is very direct during the zenith, daily temperatures remain governed by a broader mix of factors, including humidity, air mass movements and wind speeds.
Practical Tips for Verifying the Qibla
Muslims who wish to use this method can do so during the next alignment in mid-July. On the day of the event, find a clear outdoor space where a vertical object such as a pole casts a shadow, then observe the moment the shadow disappears or points directly away from the sun. At that instant, facing the sun means facing Makkah, allowing a precise check of prayer direction without a compass or app.
For everyday use, worshippers can still rely on a reliable Qibla compass or a trusted prayer application. The solar alignment simply offers a rare and elegant natural confirmation, rooted in the same astronomical knowledge that scholars have used for centuries.