National Qibla Direction Verification Movement Held at 725,000 Locations

The Ministry of Religious Affairs reported that a national movement to verify the Qibla direction, coinciding with the Rashdul Qiblat phenomenon on 15 and 16 July 2026, was held at 725,669 locations across various regions. "We recorded 725,669 registered locations participating in the 2026 National Movement of Indonesia Towards Qibla," said Arsad Hidayat, Director of Islamic Religious Affairs and Sharia Development, in Jakarta on Friday. The phenomenon of the sun being directly above the Kaaba is an astronomical event that occurs twice a year. At that moment, the sun’s rays are exactly at the zenith point of the Kaaba. Consequently, the shadow of an object standing perpendicularly on the earth’s surface can be used as a reference to determine the Qibla direction with a high degree of accuracy. This scientific method is used to verify the Qibla direction. This year, the phenomenon could be observed on 15 and 16 July 2026, precisely at 16:27 WIB and 17:27 WITA. The public simply needed to prepare a stick or an object placed perpendicularly in an open area and then observe the direction of the shadow formed. The line drawn from the tip of the shadow to the base of the stick indicates the direction of the Kaaba and can be used as a reference to check the accuracy of the Qibla direction. "Alhamdulillah, this National Rashdul Qiblat Movement was enthusiastically welcomed with hundreds of thousands of registrants wanting to practice this method," he said. The 2026 National Movement of Indonesia Towards Qibla not only aims to verify the Qibla direction but also to improve public literacy regarding astronomy as an important instrument in religious services. The movement is also expected to be an educational moment for the public about the importance of astronomy while strengthening the accuracy of the Qibla direction in various places of worship and public facilities.