Qibla direction in Abu Dhabi.
Live great-circle bearing from Abu Dhabi city centre to the Kaaba in Makkah. Bearing: 256.2 degrees, West-South-West.
From Abu Dhabi (24.4539 N, 54.3773 E), the Qibla bearing to the Kaaba in Makkah is approximately 256.2 degrees from true north, falling in the West-South-West sector. Face this bearing for salah. Local reference: Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is aligned to the same Qibla.
Abu Dhabi sits at 256.2° while Dubai, just nearby, reads 258.6°. The 2.4° gap comes purely from the Abu Dhabi centroid sitting south-west of Dubai: the further north-east you are in the UAE, the higher the bearing climbs toward due west. Both still fall in the West-South-West sector.
Bearing from Abu Dhabi
Bearing computed using the great-circle initial-azimuth formula (same method as Awqaf UAE and Google Qibla Finder). Variation within the Abu Dhabi city area is under 0.5 degrees.
Open live Qibla compass →About the Qibla from Abu Dhabi
From Abu Dhabi city (Corniche, Khalifa City, Yas Island, Saadiyat, Mussafah) the bearing is approximately 256°. Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is itself oriented toward this bearing.
Most older mosques in Abu Dhabi, including Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, were oriented to this Qibla long before GPS, using astronomical methods (sun and moon shadow at solar noon). Modern mosques use the same 256.2-degree bearing within engineering tolerance. If you are praying outdoors or at home, align yourself with the bearing above using a magnetic compass corrected for magnetic declination, or use a GPS-based Qibla app.
Qibla direction FAQ
The Qibla is the direction Muslims face during prayer (salah). It points to the Kaaba inside Al-Masjid Al-Haram in Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
From Abu Dhabi the Qibla is west-south-west: roughly 256 degrees on a true-north compass, slightly south of due west.
To within 1 degree. The bearing is computed from the Abu Dhabi city centroid; movement within the city changes the bearing by under 0.5 degrees.
UAE magnetic declination is approximately 2 degrees east (positive) in Abu Dhabi, so on a magnetic compass the Qibla reads about 254.2 degrees. Use a true-north or GPS compass to skip this correction.
Qibla in nearby cities
- Dubai · 258.6°
- Sharjah · 259.9°
- Ajman · 260.3°
- Live Qibla compass →