Rawdah
The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “The area between my house and my minbar is one of the gardens of Paradise.” This area inside the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah is known as the ‘Rawdah’ and is able to be identified and distinguished from other areas of the mosque as it has green carpet.
Another way that this area can be distinguished is the sheer noise, crowding, pushing and stampede that comes from the area. The area of the Rawdah can be just as harmful and over-crowded (if not worse) than trying to get to the black stone.
Whilst there are many different views or opinions about the virtues of the Rawdah, the most correct opinion is that there is no known benefit or “extra” reward for praying in this area as opposed to another area in the Prophet’s masjid (perhaps apart from the front-row which has the most reward for men).
It is understandable though that one may wish to visit and pray in the rawdah as one of those items they can ‘tick off’ on their checklist for a journey like this. For women access to the rawdah is usually available 2 times during the day:
- From Sunrise till approximately 45 minutes before Dhuhr
- After Isha till approximately 90 minutes before Fajr
There will be barriers placed up inside the Prophet’s mosque allowing women to go from the women’s area inside the mosque all the way towards the Rawdah and visiting the Prophet’s grave.
If women intend on visiting the Rawdah it is advisable that they go as a group (minimum 4-5), as women are allowed into groups depending on what country they are from. It is also advisable that only one of them prays when in the Rawdah whilst the others act as a shield around her so that she doesn’t get trampled or stampeded upon from women from other countries.
Men may visit the Rawdah at any time. Usually the best times to go for men is around 8am when everyone is having breakfast or sleeping and the women’s section of the rawdah is given back to the men or alternatively in the middle of the night around 11pm-1am. This is of course unless you wish to go into the rawdah and stay there for a particular prayer. They usually close off the front of the mosque and the rawdah around 1 hour before prayer time, so if you are in there at that time you are able to stay until after the prayer.