Indonesian Muslims have been praying in the wrong direction for months, facing Somalia when they should have been facing Saudi Arabia, the country's highest religious authority says.

A cleric from the Indonesian Ulema Council admitted it had made a mistake in March when calculating which way Muslims should turn to pray. New instructions had now been issued and people had only to shift their position for the correct alignment, he said.

According to Islamic tradition, the prophet Muhammad was born in Mecca and it is said to be the place where Allah's message was first revealed to him. Each day Muslims around the world turn to Mecca to pray and, at least once in their lives if they can afford it, travel there to perform the Haj, or pilgrimage.

Ma'ruf Amin, from the Ulema Council, said a ''thorough study with some cosmography and astronomy experts'' revealed that Indonesian Muslims had been facing southern Somalia and Kenya instead of Mecca, which is more than 1600 kilometres further north.

The error did not mean their prayers would be ignored, he said. ''God understands that humans make mistakes. Allah always hears their prayers.''