= ₹22.50 
Though Visiting Masjid an Nabawi in Madīnah is not a part of ‘Umrah, It is encouraged for a believer to visit Masjid an-Nabawee in general and It is from among the Sunnah to visit the grave of the Prophet صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم and his companions رضي الله عنهم. But the primary intention of the journey should be to visit the Masjid of the Prophet صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم and pray there and not to visit the graves.
Shaykh Muhammad ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
“If the pilgrim wants to visit the Prophet’s Mosque before or after Hajj, he should have the intention of visiting the mosque, not the grave, because travelling to a place for the purpose of worship does not include visiting graves, rather it includes only the three mosques: al-Masjid al-Haraam (the Sacred Mosque in Makkah), al-Masjid al-Nabawi (the Prophet’s Mosque in Madeenah) and al-Masjid al-Aqsa (in Jerusalem), as it says in the hadeeth which was narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) who said:
“No journey should be undertaken to any mosque except three: al-Masjid al-Haraam, this mosque of mine and al-Masjid al-Aqsa.”[1.Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 1189: Muslim, 1397] [2.From al-Manhaj li Mureed al-‘Umrah wa’l-Hajj by Shaykh Ibn Uthymeen]
These are the top 11 guidelines that you need know before visiting Masjid An Nabawi Madeenah.
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1- Entering the Masjid with the Right Foot
When you reach the Prophet’s Mosque, you should enter with your right foot first and say,
“Bismillaah wa’l-salaatu wa’l-salaam ‘ala Rasoolillaah. Allaahumma aftah li abwaab rahmatika”
(In the name of Allaah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allaah. O Allaah, open to me the gates of Your mercy.”)[3.The companion of the Prophet صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم Anas bin Malik رضي الله عنه mentioned:
“From implementation of the Sunnah, is that a person enters the masjid with his right foot first, and leaves the masjid with his left foot first.” (Mustedraq of Hakim)
It is also recorded that ‘Umar ibn al Khattab held a similar view. (Sahih Bukhari)]
2- One prayer in the Prophet’s Mosque = 1000 prayers elsewhere
From Jaabir (may Allaah be pleased with him), that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “One prayer in my mosque is better than one thousand prayers elsewhere, except al-Masjid al-Haraam, and one prayer in al-Masjid al-Haraam is better than one hundred thousand prayers elsewhere.”[4.Narrated by Ahmad and Ibn Majaah (1406)]
So offer as much as Salah as you can when you’re in al-Masjid al-Nabawi.
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3- Praying in the Rawdah
If it is possible, try to pray in al-Rawdah which is the area between the minbar of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and the room in which is his grave, because this area is one of the gardens (riyaadh, sing. rawdah) of Paradise.
as Prophet صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم says:
“The area between my house and my minbar is one of the gardens of Paradise, and my minbar is on my cistern (hawd)”[5.Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 1196; Muslim, 1391]
However care needs to be taken so as not to be aggressive towards the pilgrims to pray in the Rawdah. Women who want to pray in Rawdah area can enter the masjid through the Gates 21 – 25. Rawdah area for women is open after Fajr, Zuhr and Isha Prayers. It is open after Fajr for long time and 15 – 20 min after Zuhr prayer.
4- Visiting the grave of the Prophet and his two Companions
When Visiting Masjid An Nabawi, It is NOT legislated for anyone to embark upon a journey to visit the graves of Prophets nor the righteous – this is proven by the Hadīth already stated above:“No journey should be undertaken to visit any Masjid except three: The Masjid Al-Harām [in Makkah], this Masjid of mine, and Al-Masjid Al-Aqsā.”
Visiting the Prophet’s Mosque is not from the obligations of Hajj or `Umrah. However, if one is in Madīnah, then it is legislated to attend the funerals and to visit the graveyards so that one is reminded of death and may supplicate for the deceased. In this regard, one may also visit the grave of the Prophet and his two Companions to give them salutations
“Assalāmu `alaika Yā Rasūlallāh. Move a little to the right and say Assalāmu `alaika Yā Abā Bakr. Move further right and say Assalāmu `alaika Yā `Umar.”
And leave without lingering.[6.See Manāsik al-Hajj wal-`Umrah of Ibn `Uthaimeen]
It Should be noted that it is Impermissible for a woman to visit the graves[7.Ibn ‘Abbaas said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) cursed women who visit graves and those who set up places of worship and lamps over them. Narrated and classed as hasan by at-Tirmidhi (320) ].
5- Drink as much as Zamzam
When you’re in Madinah, don’t forget to drink as much as Zamzam water primarily because it is a filling food, a cure for illness, and that it is blessed.[7.Muslim no. 2473 and Abu Dawud At-Tiyalsi 2nd Volume no. 61]
Plus, its free in the Haramain and costs elsewhere. So drink endlessly.
6- Attending Classes inside Al-Masjid an-nabawi
Madinah is a center of knowledge. There are a number of Islamic Scholars and students of knowledge who take classes inside the masjid. Some of them include Shaykh Abdur rahman Al Kawni (حفظه الله), Shaykh Abdullah al Bukhari (حفظه الله). Make sure that you sit in any of these classes inside the masjid even if you don’t understand arabic and gain the blessings of an Islamic gathering in which Allah is remembered.
7- Learn how to perform Janaza (Funeral) prayer as it is prayed very frequently at masjid an-nabawi
Janaza prayer is prayed after almost every salah at Masjid an-nabawi. So it is important that you know how to perform the Janaza prayer. Check our detailed article on how to perform Janaza prayer here
Learn the following dua[8.Ibn Majah 1/480, Ahmad 2/368. See also Al-Albani, Sahih Ibn Majah 1/251]
, that is for funeral of Male Muslim (Change it accordingly for a Female Muslimah)
Allaahum-maghfir lihayyinaa, wa mayyitinaa, wa shaahidinaa, wa ghaa’ibinaa, wa sagheerinaa wa kabeerinaa, wa thakarinaa wa ‘unthaanaa. Allaahumma man ‘ahyaytahu minnaa fa’ahyihi ‘alal-‘Islaami, wa man tawaffaytahu minnaa fatawaffahu ‘alal-‘eemaani, Allaahumma laa tahrimnaa ‘ajrahu wa laa tudhillanaa ba’dahu.
8- Places prescribed to visit in Madeenah
There are only 4 places that are prescribed to visit in Al-Madeenah. These include
- Al Masjid An-Nabawi
- Baqee- ul Garqad
- Shuhadah Uhud
- Masjid al Quba
Because, these are evident from the following Ahaadeeth.
Shaykh al-Islam [Ibn Taymiyah] (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: “It is also mustahabb (recommended) to visit the graves of the people of al-Baqee’ and the martyrs of Uhud, to pray for them and ask for forgiveness for them, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to do this, but this is prescribed for all the Muslim graves.”[9.Majmoo’ al-Fataawa, 17/470]
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) also said, “Whoever purifies himself in his house then comes to the mosque of Quba’ and prays there, he will have a reward like that for ‘Umrah.”[10.Narrated by Ahmad, al-Nasaa’i, Ibn Maajah and al-Haakim. Al-Haakim classed it as saheeh and al-Dhahabi agreed with him. Also classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami’, 6154]
With regard to visiting other places and historical site as part of its virtue, then there’s no basis for that in Sharee’ah.
9- Eating Ajwa Dates
As you set to return from Madinah, don’t forget to buy Ajwa dates from Madinah, which is a soft dry date fruit in Saudi Arabia.
From Sa`d that Allāh’s Messenger ( صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم) said:
“Whoever eats seven `Ajwah dates in the morning, then he will not be harmed by poison or magic on that day.”[11.Bukhārī (5445) and Muslim (2047)][12. www.abukhadeejah.com]
10- Free Parking Locations
If you’re frequently visiting masjid an nabawi, you must agree with me that although there is a vast underground parking space, it is very difficult to get parking space on many occasions because of the crowd and alot of time will be wasted in finding parking spaces which could be otherwise spent worshipping inside the masjid. To make your life easier, I have collected the locations of some of the free parking spaces outside the masjid premises and you can save the following locations.
11- Watch live human traffic at Masjid an nabawi
Masjid an nabawi is very crowded almost everyday of the year. If you ever wanted to get an idea of how crowded it is, there’s this Youtube channel: Saudi Sunnah TV which records masjid an nabawi live 24*7. You can now plan your visit based on this crowd and goto masjid early before it gets highly crowded, especially on the days of Jumuah.
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