Muslims across the globe on Friday will be able to spot the Qibla simply by facing the sun.
According to astronomers, the sun will pass directly over the top of the Holy Kaaba in Saudi Arabia at 12:18 pm local time, coinciding with the Friday prayer time at the mosque. During this time, Kaaba’s structure will cast no shadow.
“This celestial phenomenon will enable people all over the Earth who can see the sun at that moment to determine the direction of the Qibla through the simplest and easiest ways,” Mulhim bin Mohammed Al Hindi, an astronomy researcher at King Abdul Aziz University in Riyadh, told Saudi news agency SPA.
“A man facing the sun [at that moment] will be heading to the Qibla with an accuracy of 100%,” he added.
Alignment of the sun over the Kaaba in the Grand Mosque, occurs twice every year, according to CNN.
Since the 12th century, Muslims across the world depended upon shadows to determine the Qibla, Al Hindi stated, however, that will not be the case today.
While everyone in the world will be able to search for the Qibla today, those living near the Grand Mosque, will have to rely on the ancient method as it will be difficult for them to determine the direction the sun is traveling.
“They can determine the Qibla through the shadows of objects,” Al Hindi said. “If a pen is situated vertically, the Qibla’s direction will be the exact opposite to the pen’s shadow.”
This article originally appeared on CNN.
