Qibla Direction in Grand Rapids, Michigan

How to face the Qibla in Grand Rapids

1. With your phone: tap Open the live Qibla compass, allow location (and, on iPhone, motion access), then turn slowly until the Kaaba on the dial reaches the mark at the top.
2. With a regular compass: hold it flat, turn it until the needle sits on N, then face 55.8° on the dial. That is the magnetic bearing; reading 50.0° off a magnetic compass would leave you about 5.8° off.
3. With the map: open the live compass, switch to Map and follow the gold line from your position to the Kaaba. It does not use the compass at all.

If a phone compass looks wrong, move the phone in a figure-eight a few times, away from laptops, speakers, car dashboards and magnetic cases, and hold it flat while you turn.

Why the Qibla from Grand Rapids points northeast

From Grand Rapids, in the middle of the continent, the Kaaba is 6,801 miles away, and on a Mercator map the straight line to it points 102°, east-southeast. Following the curve of the earth instead, the great circle leaves Grand Rapids at 50.0°, heads up over the North Atlantic to about 56° N, and only then bends south toward Arabia. That great-circle bearing, northeast, is the one the finder gives.

Nearby cities

• Lansing, MI50.9° NE · 59 mi away
• Ann Arbor, MI51.5° NE · 109 mi away
• Milwaukee, WI48.3° NE · 113 mi away
• Chicago, IL48.7° NE · 125 mi away
• Dearborn Heights, MI51.9° NE · 129 mi away

See every city in the USA, or use the Qibla Finder for your exact spot.

Prayer times in Grand Rapids: today's times and a monthly timetable.