MAKKAH: For a few seconds this afternoon, all objects standing upright in Makkah will cease casting shadows, and the Kaaba itself will appear to eat up its shadow into the ground.
The Jeddah Astronomical Society has determined that the sun will be exactly overhead the Kaaba at 12:26:44 Makkah Time or 2:26:44 Pakistan Standard Time, making it a perfectly vertical point relative to the structure and casting no shadow.
Solar Zenith Explained
Astronomers know the phenomenon as the solar zenith, or istiwa, a term that predates modern astronomy. The sunlight hits the earth at a right angle while it is at its precise latitude, Makkah. Anyone under clear skies at that moment can determine the exact direction of the Kaaba by observing the shadow cast by a vertical object, without using a compass or smartphone app.
Majed Abu Zahra, president of the Jeddah Astronomy Society, explained the science behind the phenomenon.. The Sun moves south past the Tropic of Cancer and crosses the parallel of 21.4 degrees north latitude of Makkah, resulting in what is referred to in astronomy as the solar zenith. This means that at Makkah, the Sun moves directly above the horizon twice each year; once in late May when it is moving north, and again in mid-July while moving south. Earth’s own tilt drives the whole show. The axis leans roughly 23.44 degrees, so the sun appears to drift between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn across the seasons, crossing directly over Makkah’s zenith on these two occasions each year.
Ancient Method Still Works
This is not a new trick. Long before satellites and smartphone compasses existed, Muslim astronomers used exactly this window to correct the orientation of mosques thousands of kilometres from Makkah. They planted a straight rod into open ground and waited. The moment the Sun reaches its zenith, the shadow of the stick points directly away from the Kaaba, making the opposite direction the exact Qibla, giving a person an exact bearing without using any instrument.
This trick is still possible even today and anybody could do it. Insert a pencil or straight stick into flat and level ground a few minutes before 2:26:44 PST. Watch the shadow disappear at the moment of alignment, Watch the shadow at the moment of alignment, then note its direction as the Sun moves. The opposite direction points directly toward the Kaaba.
Historians credit medieval Islamic scholars with pioneering this “shadowless” technique specifically to calibrate mosque alignments across continents, long before triangulation or satellite mapping existed. Wednesday’s event revives that same principle for anyone willing to step outside with a stick and a watch.
The next chance to repeat the experiment will not arrive until late May next year, when the sun begins its journey north again and crosses Makkah’s zenith for a second time.
