Most mosques have a niche in the wall that indicates the direction of Mecca (this direction is known as qibla.

Otherwise, one can use a number of methods to determine the direction. For example, if you know a certain street runs north-south, you can use this to determine one direction, and thus find the qibla. If outside, one can use the location of the sun, stars, or even the moss on trees (in the Northern Hemisphere, moss grows on the northern side. In the Southern Hemisphere, it grows on the southern side.).

If one has no way of knowing the direction of qibla, one can just pick a direction and pray, because it is the intention that counts.

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Answer

Qibla is the direction of the building of Ka'ba located in Mecca. Formerly the Qibla used to be Quds (Jerusalem). Seventeen months after the Hegira, at the third rak'at of the early afternoon or late afternoon prayer of a Tuesday in the middle of Sha'bân, Muslims were commanded to turn towards Ka'ba. According to Hanafî and Mâlikî Madhhabs, namâz will be accepted if the opening between the crosswise directions of the optic nerves includes Ka'ba. This angle is approximately 45°.

The Qibla is not the building of Ka'ba; it is its building plot. That is, that space from the Earth to 'Arsh is the Qibla. For this reason, a person who is down in a well, [under the sea], on top of a high mountain [or on a plane] can perform namâz in that direction.

It is permissible, even when performing the namâz that is fard, to deviate from the direction of Qibla when there is the fear of illness, enemy or thief, or by mistake, but it is a must to turn towards the Qibla when performing it on a ship or train.

At places where there is no mihrâb [it is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the qibla] and where the Qibla cannot be found by calculation or with the help of the Pole-Star [a compass], true Muslims who know which direction the Qibla is must be consulted. We should not ask disbelievers, fâsiqs [people who sin frankly], or children. Disbelievers and sinners can be believed in mu'amalât (business transactions and social dealings), but not in diyânât [worships]. When you have no one with you who knows about the Qibla, you need not look for one. You must search for it yourself and then perform namâz towards the direction you have decided to be the Qibla. If later you find out that it was the wrong direction, you do not have to perform the namâz again.

If people who do not know the direction of Qibla perform namâz without looking at the mihrâb or asking someone who knows or trying to find out, their namâz will not be accepted even if they have found the Qibla by chance. But if they find out after the namâz that they have found the right direction, it will be accepted. If they find it out during the namâz, it will not be accepted. If they have inquired for the Qibla but have not performed the namâz in the direction which they have decided to be right, they have to perform it again even if they understand that they have found the right direction by chance.

Likewise, people who perform namâz though they think that they do not have an ablution, that their clothes are najs, or that it is not prayer time yet, and who find out later that their thought has not been correct, perform the namâz again.

[To determine the direction of Qibla, a rod is erected at a place taking sunrise. Or a key or a piece of stone tied to the end of a piece of string and let to hang loosely. At (the time of Qibla) read on the daily calendar, the shadow of the rod or the string shows the direction of qibla, as the Sun is overhead the direction of qibla. The Sun is on the Qibla side of the shadow.]

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Answer 2:

You can easily locate the qibla direction of a certain place by means of the Qibla Locator program

The red line on the map indicates the qibla direction.

With searching feature, you can reach without difficulty the map of any city you desire. Clicking on (+) and (-) buttons, you can zoom the map in and out. Also, you can move the map toward the direction you wish with the help of the mouse. Moreover, it is possible to determine the direction of the qibla by zooming the map in until you see the street, even the house or workplace, you want. If you select the Satellite or Hybrid Map, you can find the building you are looking for more easily when you zoom in on the map.

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