In the Bahá'í Faith the Qiblih is the location that Bahá'ís should face when saying their daily obligatory prayers, and is fixed at the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh in Bahjí, near Akká, in present day Israel.
You may drag and drop the marker to reposition it to your current location or you can click on the search icon on the far left to search for your current address.
The direction of the Qiblih from a given location on earth may be set along the shorter arc of a great circle that passes through Bahjí and the point concerned. A great circle in this context is one whose plane bisects the earth (e.g., the equator and longitudinal meridians). Bahjí is located at approximately 35 degrees east longitude and 33 degrees north latitude.
The magnetic bearing is relative to magnetic north that a compass needle would point to. North corresponds to 0°, and the angles increase clockwise, so east is 90° degrees, south is 180°, and west is 270°. This value is calculated by adding the magnetic declination, based on the World Magnetic Model 2020-2025, to the true north bearing.
The shortest path lies on an arc of a great circle. When a path along a great circle is drawn on a flat map, it usually looks curved. Using a world globe and a piece of string you can test this out yourself.
The Badí' Calendar & Qiblih App has a Qiblih compass and map feature.
The “Point of Adoration,” that is, the point to which the worshiper should turn when offering obligatory prayer, is called the Qiblih. The concept of Qiblih has existed in previous religions. Jerusalem in the past had been fixed for this purpose. Muḥammad changed the Qiblih to Mecca. The Báb’s instructions in the Arabic Bayán were:
The Qiblih is indeed He Whom God will make manifest; whenever He moveth, it moveth, until He shall come to rest.
This passage is quoted by Bahá’u’lláh in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas (¶137) and confirmed by Him in the above-noted verse. He has also indicated that facing in the direction of the Qiblih is a “fixed requirement for the recitation of obligatory prayer” (Q&A 14 and 67). However, for other prayers and devotions the individual may face in any direction.
Bahá’u’lláh ordains His resting-place as the Qiblih after His passing. The Most Holy Tomb is at Bahjí, ‘Akká. ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá describes that Spot as the “luminous Shrine,” “the place around which circumambulate the Concourse on high.”
In a letter written on his behalf, Shoghi Effendi uses the analogy of the plant turning in the direction of the sun to explain the spiritual significance of turning towards the Qiblih:
… just as the plant stretches out to the sunlight—from which it receives life and growth—so we turn our hearts to the Manifestation of God, Bahá’u’lláh, when we pray; … we turn our faces … to where His dust lies on this earth as a symbol of the inner act.