Khadijah

Q1. Is Qiblah Direction toward the Geographical North or Magnetic North? Ans. IslamicFinder provides Qiblah direction with respect to Geographical north, whereas the compass gives magnetic north, the magnetic north varies from city to city and varies with time as well, and therefore magnetic north can not be used to fix Qiblah directions for Mosques. Q2. What is the difference between Geographical North and Magnetic North? Ans. True North Pole is marked on the Globe as a top hinge of the stand. Magnetic North is the direction where a magnetic needle would point if it is pivoted freely, because it aligns with magnetic field inside the earth. Earth’s rotation and iron core creates a magnetic field much like giant magnet. However the ends or poles of the magnet do not match the Earth’s geographic poles. To make things worse, the magnetic pole tends to wander or drift, so its location can change over time. Fortunately the drift is minor, and not significant for wilderness navigation. Q3. What is correct Qiblah direction from North America, North-East or South-East? Ans. One group of people favors the direction of South-East, and another group favors North-East. Now the question is whether South-East is correct or North-East is correct. Those who favor South-East are misleading by looking at the flat map with an argument that Makkah is south and East of North America. The fallacy is that the earth is not a flat plane; it is more like a sphere floating in space of three dimensions. North Pole is a point from where every direction is south; there is no East or West from there. If you take a globe and stretch a thread from Alaska to Makkah, you will see that the thread passes through or close by North Pole. So, the Qiblah from Alaska will be towards North. For more detail check out http://moonsighting.com/qibla.html