725.669 Location Check the Direction of the Qiblat, the House of the People Dominates

JAKARTA - A total of 725,669 locations throughout Indonesia participated in the verification of the direction of the qiblat in the 2026 National Indonesian Qiblat Movement. Residential houses dominate with 576,309 points, far exceeding the number of mosques and prayer rooms that were also inspected.

Director of Islamic Religious Affairs and Bina Syariah of the Ministry of Religion, Arsad Hidayat, said the verification was carried out by utilizing the Rashdul Qiblat phenomenon, namely when the sun is directly above the Ka'bah.

"We have recorded 725,669 location points that have been registered to participate in the 2026 National Movement," said Arsad in Jakarta, Friday (17/7/2026).

Of this number, 67,867 points are in mosques, 49,680 in musala, 233 in restaurants, and 114 in hotels. A total of 31,466 other points are spread across various facilities and public spaces.

According to Arsad, the number of objects that are checked can be larger. Because, in one registration point, verification can be done in three or more locations.

The movement monitoring center is located at the Al-Qur'an Printing Unit, Ciawi, Bogor. The activity was also preceded by an International Islamic Astronomy Seminar which featured experts from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore.

The Qiblat Rashdul occurs twice a year. When the sun is directly above the Ka'bah, the direction of the shadow of a standing object can be used to check the direction of the qibla directly.

In 2026, the phenomenon can be observed on July 15 and 16 at 16.27 WIB or 17.27 WITA.

The way is simple. People place a stick or straight object in the open air. The line from the tip of the shadow to the base of the object indicates the direction of the Ka'bah.

The method is considered to have high accuracy as long as the object is standing upright, the surface is flat, and the sunlight is not obstructed.

"This National Rashdul Kiblat movement was enthusiastically welcomed with the participation of hundreds of thousands of applicants who want to practice this method directly," said Arsad.

The Ministry of Religion said the movement was also aimed at expanding public understanding of astronomy. This knowledge is needed to ensure that the direction of the qibla in places of worship, houses, hotels, restaurants, and public facilities is not only determined based on estimates.

The Secretary of the Semarang City PCNU, Jumarno, assessed that the method was easy to implement and useful for re-checking the accuracy of the direction of the qibla.