When Sun aligned with Holy Kaaba during Hajj 2026
Over 1.7 million Muslims from around the world Thursday May 28, 2026 witnessed a rare and precise astronomical phenomenon when Sun aligned with Holy Kaaba – the House of Allah, The Almighty, in the Holy City of Makkah al Mukarramah
Makkah al Mukarramah: Over 1.7 million Muslims from around the world Thursday May 28, 2026 witnessed a rare and precise astronomical phenomenon when Sun aligned with Holy Kaaba – the House of Allah, The Almighty, in the Holy City of Makkah al Mukarramah.
According to the official Saudi Press Agency, the Sun aligned almost perfectly directly above the Holy Kaaba at 12:18 PM Thursday when the pilgrims had lined up for the Dhuhr prayers.
The event is twice-a-year celestial phenomenon and offers a flawless natural opportunity to determine and verify the global direction of the Qibla (the direction Muslims face during prayer). It was a rare for the Pilgrims from around the world who are in the Holy City for this year’s Hajj.
A similar Solar alignment with the Holy Kaaba was last seen last in July 2025.
Solar Alignment with Holy Kaaba
Giving more details about the event, Majed Abu Zahra, Director of the Jeddah Astronomy Society said that the Sun reached the closest point to complete alignment directly above the Holy Kaaba at an altitude of 89.94 degrees, with a difference of only about 0.06 degrees (about 3.6 arcminutes) from perfect alignment, providing a direct opportunity to verify the accuracy of the Qibla direction by using the position of the sun and the shadows cast by vertical objects.
Because the Sun’s rays hit the ground perpendicularly, the Holy Kaaba and all vertical objects in Makkah completely lost their shadows at that exact minute.
He added that the phenomenon occurs twice a year as a result of the Sun’s apparent movement between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.
This year’s Solar Alignment with Holy Kaaba started on Tuesday which coincided with Youme Arafat 2026, and reached its peak on Thursday May 28, 2026.
Scientific and Educational Significance
The phenomenon holds scientific and educational significance due to its connection with astronomical calculations and the explanation of concepts related to Earth’s movement and celestial coordinates, in addition to its historical use in correcting the directions of some mosques.
Because Makkah lies at approximately 21.4 degrees North latitude, the sun passes directly over its celestial coordinates twice a year — once during its northward journey in late May, and again on its southward return in mid-July.
Thursday’s reading, however, marks the true astronomical peak for this cycle and the most precise moment of the year for shadow-based Qibla verification.
Beyond its deep spiritual resonance, the event carries significant scientific weight, demonstrating planetary rotation and celestial mechanics in real time. Historically, this “shadowless” technique was pioneered by medieval Islamic scholars to calibrate the alignment of distant mosques across continents, according to historians.
Adding to the uniqueness of this year’s event, the solar alignment coincided precisely with the second day of Eid al-Adha.
As the Islamic calendar is lunar and shifts backward by roughly 10 to 11 days each year against the Solar Calendar, a perfect intersection where this solar zenith lands exactly during the peak days of the Hajj and Eid season occurs only once every 33 years.
(With inputs from Arab News)
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