تعيين جهت قبله با استفاده از خورشيد

Determination of Qiblah Direction by means of Sun

Muslims have been seriously engaged in determination of qibla direction since appearance of Islam. In this paper, we first take a glance at these attempts. Then we present the most accurate method of qibla determination for any place, knowing its longitude and latitude, namely the spherical triangulation method. This method could be used by mosques or other establishments for determination of qibla once and for all. Finally, we present a new method of determination of qibla using the most accessible means, namely, the Sun. For this determination,we need to calculate rightascensiori and declination of the Sun on any day, and also the azimuth of the Sun at any desired time. Therefore, knowing local longitude, latitude and the date, we can calculate the time of alignment of the shadow of a gnomon with the direction of Mecca for any day.