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Geodetic Analysis of Disputed Accurate Qibla Direction
Geodetic Analysis of Disputed Accurate Qibla Direction
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serious consequence that the mosque must be demolished often leads to an excessive reaction for less-educated peo-
and then rebuilt a new one. ple due to the positional change of mosque in their re-
In a report published on 11 April 2012, the United view of comprehension must alter the direction muslims
States Geological Survey keeps track of the deadliest earth- correctly face towards the Kaaba in Mecca when perform-
quakes around the world since 1900 [36, 28], as shown in ing their prayers. Because of the direction of qibla may be
Table 1. It is recognised that almost all of the world’s most mathematically expressed as the shortest distance of the
devastating earthquakes occur in the Ring of Fire, the vol- Kaaba to any mosque on the Earth’s surface, a geodesic
canically and seismically volatile swath of the Pacific that analysis of disputed correct direction of qibla must be per-
runs from New Zealand up through Indonesia and Japan, formed to have a new insight of the attitude of the muslim
across the ocean to Alaska, and down the west coast of communities when performing the prayers to face towards
the Americas to Chile [15, 37]. Table 1 shows five of sev- the qibla direction. The aims of this study are as follows:
enteen most devastating earthquakes occurred in Indone- (1) to analyse the shifting direction of qibla by comparing
sia. Because according to the opinion of some scholars this four different azimuth errors obtained from three different
may cause the shifting of correct qibla direction, the direc- models of the Earth and (2) to analyse the problems or er-
tion of mosques and muslim graveyards need to be reori- rors related to the setting out procedures for the determi-
ented to face towards the Kaaba in Mecca. Due to the lack nation of qibla direction.
of a scientific basis to support it, the majority of muslims
in Indonesia very often spark unnecessary action which
costs a great deal in the society. Of extreme case occurred 2 Methodology
in East Java when people demolished and reconstructed
several mosques to readjust the direction of qibla besides
2.1 Azimuthal model of the Earth
that hundreds of muslim graveyards were unearthed and
reoriented for the reasons to correctly face towards the The simplest model for the shape of the entire Earth is
Kaaba [19]. a flat plane. It is obvious that since 276 BC Erastothenes
Earthquakes can lead to the displacement of a build- may have been the first to use the world geography [30]
ing on the Earth’s surface and can also trigger landslides and had been able to use this simple model for determin-
[21, 39, 40]. Started by rumors, it further developed into is- ing the circumference of the spherical earth which devi-
sues to accuse that earthquakes have changed either the ates only by 1.6 %, compared to modern estimate of the
geographical position of Kaaba in Mecca or the position of direction of any location on the Earth’s surface. As such,
affected mosque at anywhere on the Earth’s surface. This the qibla direction depends on the location of any place
Figure 1: Plat-earth model of determining the Kaaba direction. Figure 2: Spherical triangle of predicting the qibla direction.
2.2 Spherical model of the Earth By applying the spherical trigonometry and consider-
ing its co-latitudes in Fig. 2 then eqns (1) and (2) can re-
A more accurate estimate of the qibla direction can be ob- spectively be rewritten as:
tained using a sphere model of the Earth [3, 13, 17, 31]. In
spite of the sphere model is mathematically better than sin β sin αA = cos φK sin Δλ (3)
the azimuthal model of the Earth, it is also known as an sin β cos αA = sin φK cos φ − cos φK sin φ cos Δλ (4)
approximation model of predicting the qibla direction be-
It is recognised that sin β sin αA ≠ 0 and sin β cos αA ≠
cause the shape of the Earth closely resembles an oblate
0 hence dividing eqn (3) by eqn (4) this can yield:
ellipsoid, which provides a mathematically tractable way
to specify a point on the surface of the Earth. Figure 2 sin Δλ cos φK
− tan αA = (5)
shows the diagrammatic representation of spherical trian- sin φ cos Δλ cos φK − cos φ sin φK
gle to be used for calculating the azimuth of a point on − sin Δλ
tan αA = (6)
the Earth’s surface. The qibla direction from the location sin φ cos Δλ − cos φ tan φK
2 2 1/2
where αA , as an azimuth, is angle measured from the north with e = (a −ba ) or the first eccentricity of the ellipse,
to find the direction of qibla at point A in Fig. 2. Other- where M is radius of curvature for the meridian at point A,
wise, one may also measure angle αA (180° − αA ) from the N is radius of curvature for the prime vertical at point A,
south. In this concept of azimuth, the Earth is modelled as a is ellipsoid’s semi major axis, b is ellipsoid’s semi minor
a sphere because of the distance between A and K in Fig. 2 axis, φ is latitude of an arbitrary at point A on the ellipse.
is part of great circle. Another model can account for pre- The parallels of latitude and meridians of longitude
dicting the qibla direction when the Earth is modelled as are two imaginary lines that envelop the Earth and could
ellipsoid even though it is more complicated than either be different from each other between the two arbitrary
plane model or spherical model of the Earth. points of A(φA , λA ) and B(φB , λB ), and this creates the exis-
tence of so-called reciprocal normal sections by the inter-
section of two normal planes nA AB and nB BA with ellipse,
as shown in Fig. 3a. In view of the rigorous geometric defi-
2.3 Ellipsoidal model of the Earth
nition of a line, neither of these normal sections as the line
An ellipsoidal model of the Earth [9, 16, 26, 27] can more of shortest distance between two points of A and B. Geode-
accurately predict the qibla direction and takes into ac- sists commonly define the shortest distance between two
count the effect of the Earth’s compression on the rota- such points as geodesic line; this is however not a plane
tion of the Earth around its own axis (see Fig. 3), but it curve like in great circle (see line AK in Fig. 2). A geodesic
comes with some disadvantages. Two pieces of informa- is imagined as an S-shaped curve due to the existence of
tion are needed for the description; however, the calcula- two radii of curvature at any point along the geodesic line
tions of distance, area, direction and other quantities are and has double curvatures (or torsion) with its important
characteristics that: N cos φ sin α = constant for φ ≠ 0.
vastly more complicated due to an ellipsoid is formed by
Geodesic line is defined as the principal path that repre-
rotating an ellipse around its axis. Due to an oblate ellip-
sents the shortest possible distance in a unique way be-
soid could have two radii of curvature at any point on the
tween any two given points on the Earth ellipsoid [24, 12].
ellipsoid, they can thus be calculated using the following
The calculation of geodesic line can be performed using
equations [32, 18, 12]:
the two methods of Direct Solution and Inverse Solution
[32, 18, 12] that:
a (1 − e2 )
M= 3/2
(7) (1) the Direct Solution can be used to determine the co-
(1 − e2 sin2 φ) ordinates of point B (φB , λB ) from a known point A (φA , λA )
a
N= 1/2
(8) hence the azimuth of line AB (αAB ) and distance (sAB ) be-
(1 − e2 sin2 φ) tween A (φA , λA ) and B (φB , λB ) can thus be predicted, and
Figure 3: Ellipsoidal model of the Earth for predicting the qibla direction; (a) normal sections at points A and B and (b) geodesic az-
imuth – a zoom of the reciprocal normal sections in Fig. 3a.
αAB − αAB
e2 s 2 1 s
≈ sin αAB ( ) cos2 φA (cos αAB − tan φA )
2 NA 2 NA
(9)
αAB − α̃ AB
Figure 4: Geocentric and local geodetic coordinate systems.
e2 s 2 1 s
≈ sin αAB ( ) cos2 φA (cos αAB − tan φA )
6 NA 4 NA
(10) (3) Calculate the chord between points A and B to find
1 the linear distance between these two points by using the
αAB − α̃ AB ≈ (αAB − αAB ) (11)
3 equation of:
1/2
with e = (a2 −b2 )1/2
a
or the first eccentricity of the ellipsoid s = (ΔX 2 + ΔY 2 + ΔZ 2 ) (14)
(a2 −b2 )1/2
and e = b
or the second eccentricity of the ellipsoid (4) Convert the geodetic coordinate of point A by using
where αAB is azimuth of the normal section at A through B, the relation of:
αAB
is azimuth of the normal section at B through A, α̃ AB is
azimuth of geodesic AB, s is length of the normal section, U − sin φ cos λ − sin φ sin λ
cos φ ΔX
[ ] [ ][ ]
φA is latitude of point A and NA is radius of curvature of [ V ] = [ − sin λ cos λ 0 ] [ΔY ]
the prime vertical at point A. [W ] [ cos φ cos λ cos φ sin λ
sin φ ] [ ΔZ ]
(15)
It needs to calculate the azimuth of the normal section
(5) Calculate the azimuth of normal section by using
αAB before the calculation of the geodesic azimuth α̃ AB in
the equation of:
eqn (10). The calculation of either using Direct Solution or
Inverse Solution can be approached by introducing a lo- U − sin λΔX + cos λΔY
tan αAB = =
cal 3D coordinate system (U, V, W) of geocentric and local V − sin φ cos λΔX − sin φ sin λΔY + cos φΔZ
(16)
geodetic coordinate system [33], as shown in Fig. 4. There-
An ellipsoidal model of the Earth is more accurate be-
fore, this takes a step-by-step approach to calculate the az-
cause the points A and B lie on the ellipsoid’s surface (see
imuth of a normal section plane [32] that:
Fig. 3) that only this condition can be ideal although it does
(1) Convert the geodetic coordinates of points
not really best fit the physical surface of the Earth due to
A(φA , λA ) and B(φB , λB ) into their corresponding geocen-
the existence of topography outside the geoid [7].
tric coordinates (XA , YA , ZA and XB , YB , ZB ) by using the
For an ellipsoidal distance of less than 150 km, the
relation of:
methods of Direct Solution and Inverse Solutions are capa-
X N cos φ cos λ ble of obtaining high-accuracy calculation results of 1 cm
[ ] [ ]
[Y ] = [ N cos φ sin λ ] (12) and 0.0001 , respectively, it does not claim accuracy be-
2 yond that distance [12]. However, if the ellipsoidal distance
[ Z ] [N(1 − e ) sin φ]
of 10,000 km is divided into a series of short distances
(2) Calculate the difference in geocentric coordinate of of 150 km, the accumulated error would theoretically fall
points A and B by using the relation of: within a range of 8 cm. The ellipsoidal model of the Earth
cannot work with an ellipsoidal distance of longer than
ΔX XA − XB 20,000 km, the latter being the maximum possible com-
[ ] [ ]
[ΔY ] = [YA − YB ] (13) putable distance between two points on the Earth’s sur-
[ ΔZ ] [ ZA − ZB ] face [12]. Because the circumference of the Earth has been
estimated to be 37,000 km, the use of ellipsoidal model of Table 3 shows the effect of simulated refractive error
the Earth has been found to be optimal for the calculation on the process of setting out the qibla direction. The el-
of geodesic azimuth between two points on the Earth’s sur- lipsoidal distance of 7,922,301.638 meters and the qibla di-
face. In spite of the ellipsoidal model of the Earth can the- rection of 295°1 31.53 as the geodesic azimuth between
oretically be used to calculate the qibla direction with the Kaaba in Mecca and Jakarta city were calculated using the
highest possible accuracy, an even more important issue Inverse Solution. All calculations were carried out with re-
is actually the problem with setting out procedure for the spect to the World Geodetic System (WGS84) as its refer-
determination of qibla direction. ence coordinate system. Through the comparison of pre-
dicted displacement of the qibla direction with the results
(Table 3) of the geodetic analysis of different points of the
azimuth error referenced by 1°, 10°, 15° and 20° show that
3 Results and discussion (1) all azimuth errors of 1°, 10°, 15° and 20° have a larger de-
viation from the Kaaba when the calculation of using the
3.1 Analysis of shifting qibla direction flat-earth model was performed to estimate the qibla po-
sition from Jakarta city, (2) the use of ellipsoidal model of
3.1.1 Shifting direction of qibla from Jakarta
the Earth for determining the qibla direction is mathemati-
cally better than that of either spherical model of the Earth
The slight deviation from qibla is when the muslims lin-
or azimuthal model of the Earth, and (3) the poor arrange-
ing up for prayer still keep to the range of qibla, but have
ment and positioning of the qibla, geodetic lines between
not completely changed direction. Overall it can be sug-
Jakarta and Kaaba and the instruments used to determine
gested that the accumulated error of setting out the true
the qibla direction can promote the major source of error
qibla direction can be off easily in the range of 15°–20°.
in the setting out process; therefore, an error in the range
The direction effects on the azimuth error are geometric in
of 15°–20° would remain significant and unavoidable even
nature [22] and need to be evaluated to determine if they
after feasible models are applied. A numerical simulation
are needed in the azimuth determination and to predict
of using the ellipsoidal model of the Earth shows that the
the qibla direction and simulated azimuth error. This study
calculation with an azimuth error of 20° can yield a shift-
aims to analyse the shifting direction of qibla from Jakarta.
ing of the Kaaba position to be around 2,100 km. In addi-
The Google Earth provides the geographic coordinates of
tion, even if an error of only 1° in the geodetic azimuth this
Jakarta and Kaaba as can be seen in Table 2. A numerical
can cause the shifting direction of approximately 105 km
simulation can be performed using four different error an-
from the true Kaaba position, it is due to a deviation is pro-
gles of ± (plus or minus) 1°, 10°, 15° and 20° with the results
portional to the distance of Jakarta to Kaaba.
of this simulation as can be seen in Table 3.
Table 3: Numerical simulation results of azimuth error between Kaaba and Jakarta.
Element Displacement of the qibla direction from Jakarta city with an azimuth error of:
1° 10° 15° 20°
Prophet’s Mosque φj = 24°28 04.96 N λj = 39°36 42.46 E 3.2 Analysis of setting out procedure for
Kaaba φk = 21°25 21.03 N λk = 39°49 34.20 E
qibla determination
In practice, the determination of qibla direction can be per-
Table 5 depicts that the use of ellipsoidal model of the formed according to the following steps:
Earth would be more accurate in determining the qibla di- (1) Calculate the geodesic azimuth for the shortest dis-
rection than that of either spherical model of the Earth or tance between Kaaba and anyplace on the Earth’s sur-
azimuthal model of the Earth in spite of discrepancies in face;
calculation might occur due to rounding error. The numer- (2) Conduct the setting out process using either a
ical simulation results (Table 5) show that even though the theodolite-compass or a virtual magnetic compass. Ir-
distance between Prophet’s Mosque and Kaaba is less than respective of how accurate an instrumentation engi-
350 km, the use of an azimuth error of 20° can cause the neer can conduct the setting-out process, it can eas-
shifting of Kaaba position to be approximately 117 km from ily commit a deviation of 4°–5° from the desired qibla
the actual Kaaba position as it can be seen in Fig. 5 from direction. Please recall that the magnetic declination
satellite view and map of the Earth using Google Earth can be as large as 20°;
data. However, when the setting out process of estimating (3) Once the mosque is already constructed, the imam
the position of Kaaba from Prophet’s Mosque with an az- may then install the praying rugs with an azimuth er-
imuth error of only 1° this can cause the shifting of Kaaba ror in the range of 4°–5° from the predetermined vir-
from its real position to be approximately 5.9 km. tual axis (i. e., qibla direction) of the mosque; and
Table 5: Numerical simulation results of azimuth error between Kaaba and Nabawi Mosque.
Element Displacement of the qibla direction from Nabawi Mosque with an azimuth error of:
1° 10° 15° 20°
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