You are in Madinah. You want to visit Rawdah. Here is what happens next: the women’s windows and Gate 37, the minute-by-minute day plan, what to do if you did not get a permit, and why you should never buy one.
The Women’s Guide
We will say plainly what the pilgrims say plainly. The women’s permit is harder than the men’s permit. Not a little. From our customers in the last 6 months, 70 percent of the failure to book the Rawdah permit came from women, or from men and daughters booking for the women in their family.
The reason is structural. Men’s windows cover most of the day. Women’s windows are compressed into after Isha and after Fajr. Same demand, a smaller supply.
The Women’s Gate Map
| What you want to do | Gate | When | Permit? |
| Pray inside Riyad ul-Jannah | Gate 37 (also: the 36 / 364 / 367-368 area, queue near the Jannat ul-Baqi side) | Women’s windows: after Isha until about 02:00, and pre-Fajr until mid-morning | Yes |
| Salaam and courtyard visit (no prayer inside) | Gates 21, 22, 32 | After Fajr, entry until about 09:30 (stay until about 11:30, Fridays out); after Isha until about 22:30 | No |
| Men’s salaam | Gate 1 (Bab as-Salam) | About 10:00 until Isha; then about 00:00 until Fajr | No |
Gate numbers change with maintenance and crowd plans. Ask a cleaner, or anyone in an “ASK ME” vest. They know today’s routing better than anyone else.
The SALAAM Route is Not a Failure, But Time it Right
The best tip is also the one most people would not expect. For women, do not go straight after Fajr or Isha. It takes some time for the men to leave, and the first group of women often enters in a rush.
Instead, try going about 60 minutes after the prayer ends. You miss the biggest rush but are still well within the visiting time. One of our customers went at 08:45 and said it was quiet and pleasant. Her mother went straight after Fajr and said she could “barely walk.”
What you get is access to the area beside the Rawdah. You may see the minbar over the wall. You will be only a few metres from the Prophet’s ﷺ resting place.
You can also give SALAAM every day during your stay without a permit. Several pilgrims told us that being able to do this was one of the highlights of their time at Masjid Nabawi, even more so than the ten-minute Rawdah visit.
Notes From Our Past Customers
Every woman needs her own phone with a working Nusuk login at the gate. No phone means no entry. This has caused entire families to be turned away.
If you are on your period, you cannot enter the prayer area, just as you cannot enter the masjid. Keep this in mind when choosing your time. If your slot falls at a bad time, cancel it and book another one rather than wasting the opportunity.
Also, do not book a slot that starts right when a prayer ends. One woman had a 05:40–05:59 permit, but Fajr ended at 05:49. She missed her entry by two minutes and was refused. Another woman had a 05:40–06:00 permit. She was already near the gate when Fajr ended at 05:49, ran when entry opened, and made it inside.
Arrive 30 to 45 minutes before your slot. You may spend 20 to 30 minutes in the outer queue, followed by another 25 to 35 minutes in an inner waiting area.
The crowd can be rough. People may push, so be prepared. At the first check, stay in your place and do not let anyone cut through the roped outer line.
Once you are inside, one woman gave us this advice: “Find an assertive woman near you to pray beside. She will clear space for herself, and for you by being next to her.”
Your time inside can be very short. Pilgrims have reported anything from 2 to 3 minutes during busy periods to around 10 minutes now. Write your du’a before you go in, in your own language, so you already know what you want to say.
Pray two short rak’ahs, then use the remaining time for sujood and du’a.
The Tactic That Gives You More Minutes Inside
A pilgrim said his tour guide gave him this tip, and it worked. Book your slot just before a congregational prayer.
He had a 19:40 appointment, passed the first checkpoint at 19:50, and reached the Rawdah around 20:10. By then, the previous group had left and the carpet had been cleaned.
Isha started while he was inside, so instead of being asked to leave after 15 to 20 minutes, his group stayed for the full prayer.
Another pilgrim reported the same thing. He had an 11:30 slot, and when Zuhr began while he was inside, he was able to stay for the entire prayer.
The Day of Your Visit
Built from pilgrim time stamps, so you can plan the rest of your day around it.
| When | What happens |
| T-48h | The confirmation window opens. Confirm. |
| T-6h | The Tawakkalna QR appears (if you booked there). |
| T-2h | The Nusuk QR appears. Screenshot it. Check your gate. It may have changed. |
| T-45 min | Leave for the masjid. Bags and water, no food. No photos inside. Phone in your pocket from the moment you reach the carpet. |
| T-30 min | Join the outer line at Gate 37 (women), or the designated men’s queue near the Baqi side. Look for closed umbrellas and staff in orange or brown vests checking permits. That is the head of the line. Show the guard your live permit. |
| T-20 min | Second line, in a roped outer area. This is where cutting happens. Hold position. |
| T-10 min | You are moved inside into a holding area. Sit at the back. The back enters first. Pray, recite, make du’a while you wait. Do not waste this time on your phone. |
| T-0 | Lines are admitted one at a time. Walk quickly, take space. |
| T+0 to T+10 | Two short rak’at, then du’a. Stay in sujood as long as you are allowed. Your window may be 2 to 10 minutes, depending on the season. |
| Exit | You are moved out, and given a snack and a bottle of Zamzam. |
Two things can go wrong on the day, according to different pilgrims.
1. The Rawdah is roped off
You may arrive with a valid permit and still find the Rawdah blocked by a red rope. One pilgrim said guards were pushing people towards the exit, and he only managed to enter on one of his three visits in June.
The roped-off area can be used as a waiting area around prayer times, but sometimes the guards decide to close it for other reasons.
If this happens, ask a staff member directly whether your permit allows you into the carpeted area. Do not go under the rope or try to enter on your own.
2. You cannot tell where the boundary is
The Rawdah boundary may not always look the same. One pilgrim said the special carpet and the pillar name plates had been removed, so he could not tell whether he was actually praying inside the Rawdah.
If you are unsure, ask a staff member or guard while you are there. One woman did exactly that. She was reassured that she was in the right place and prayed again.
If you are deciding how long to stay in Madinah, a longer package can give you more opportunities to visit the mosque and try again if your first Rawdah attempt does not work. You can compare our 10-night Umrah package as an example.
If You Do Not Get a Permit
Read along even if you are confident. About half of our customers in the last six months did not get a permit. That includes a man who checked the app 100 times a day for three days in Madinah and left without entering. And a woman who tried for two months.
What you still have, every day, with no permit at all.
The SALAAM route. Men: Bab as-Salam (Gate 1), about 10:00 until Isha, and 00:00 until Fajr.
Women: Gates 21, 22 and 32, after Fajr until about 09:30, and after Isha until about 22:30. You walk past the grille of the Prophet’s ﷺ grave. You are just few metres away. Go every day. Use the 60-minutes-after-prayer trick to avoid the crush.
The courtyard next to the Rawdah (for women, after Fajr and Isha). One pilgrim, turned away by the app for days, called it “a lovely, serene experience. Go in and make SALAAM and do ibaadah.” It is not Riyad ul-Jannah. It is next to it. It is calm. It is open to you.
The rest of Masjid Nabawi. Prayer anywhere in it carries its own weight. The two rak’at you pray in the courtyard at 3am, with nobody around you, is not a lesser deed.
Your intention is recorded. A pilgrim who guides groups put it better than we can: “Don’t be too disheartened if you don’t get to go. Just by visiting Madinah and Makkah you have gained great reward. Allah will reward you for the intention to visit the Rawdah.”
One honest warning about the permit visit itself, from our guide who led 40 people and got his slot: for many in his group the Rawdah was the least favourite part of Masjid Nabawi, because the visit is rushed. He arrived at 02:40, entered ten minutes later, prayed two hurried rak’at, and was moved on by security. He went to the salaam route five times in three days, and preferred every one of them.
The du’a pilgrims repeat when the app will not give them a slot:
رَبِّ إِنِّي لِمَا أَنزَلْتَ إِلَيَّ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَقِيرٌ
“Rabbi inni lima anzalta ilayya min khayrin faqeer.”
“My Lord, indeed I am, for whatever good You would send down to me, in need.” (Qur’an 28:24)
Not getting a Rawdah permit does not mean your Umrah plans have failed. If you are still arranging your trip, our Umrah packages include the wider travel arrangements around your pilgrimage.
The Permit Black Market
Some pilgrims have reported people selling Rawdah permits for 10 to 25 riyals per person, sometimes buying dozens of permits for the same time slot and reselling them. These reports are not new, but pilgrims say the problem is still happening today. One pilgrim told us that getting a permit was “significantly more difficult” this year and openly wondered whether resale was part of the reason.
Our position is simple: the Rawdah permit is free. Nusuk and Tawakkalna are free, and there is no official fee to enter at the gate.
So if someone charges you 20 riyals when you book a permit, that money is going to a middleman, not to the Saudi authorities. Anyone asking you to pay for a Rawdah permit is not an official channel. Do not buy permits from middlemen or use unofficial links.
The permit is linked to your passport and cannot be transferred to another person. The 365-day limit is also linked to your passport, not your visa. A new visa does not give you a new permit, and someone else’s permit cannot simply be used by you.
Pilgrims have reported that their names are checked against the permit at the gate. A bought permit could therefore be cancelled at the checkpoint, even after you have spent a long time trying to get one.
There is another problem with buying permits. Every batch of permits bought for resale means fewer permits available to genuine pilgrims. That can make it even harder for families to find a slot for their mother, wife, sister or aunt.
And when the visit is to a place as special as the Rawdah, buying your way in is not something we want to encourage. The religious question is for you to discuss with your own scholar and follow your own conscience.
We would rather help you get a free permit through the official system, honestly.
What we do instead is help our pilgrims keep checking for availability and guide them through the process
The in-Madinah Checklist
Screenshot this.
- Location (GPS) set to always allow for Nusuk
- Instant Track checked on the 20-minute cycle from your room, if you are inside the geofence
- The web portal saved on a laptop or tablet as the backup channel
- Tawakkalna installed (with a Saudi number if you have one)
- The help desk location found on your first visit (ask a cleaner. It is outside the inner gates, near Gate 316, Gate 4 or Gate 37)
- Cancellation discipline: if you cannot make a slot, cancel it the moment you know. A missed slot can cost you 365 days
- The SALAAM route walked at least once, so it is not a fallback you have never seen
