Ziyara can be done inside or outside the Prophet’s mosque ﷺ inshaAllah. By doing ziyara from inside the mosque, one can also pray in the Rawda (green carpeted area), which the Prophet ﷺ told us is a garden from Paradise. This area is on the men’s side of the mosque, but the Saudis allow women to enter it at three times on a daily basis for a couple of hours alhamduliLlah.
The three official ziyara times for women are:
- after shuruq (meaning after Fajr prayer time exits)
- after Zuhr group prayer in the mosque
- after Isha group prayer in the mosque
In Ramadan, the ziyara after Isha is delayed until approximately 30 minutes after the tarawih prayers finish in the mosque.
The best times to do ziyara are either after Fajr or Isha. The female guards shut the waiting doors shortly after the Zuhr prayer finishes because they need to ensure that the women exit the men’s side of the mosque before Asr enters.
Women must first wait in the women’s section inside the mosque (through Door 25 or 29) and then they are directed to the men’s section by the guards according to their country of origin.
The way the female guards organize the women can be very confusing for first-timers. Most guards do not speak English and they are busied by trying to keep the hundreds of women present in order.
For practical tips on how to do the ziyara, we highly encourage you to listen to Lesson 7 inshaAllah. We’ve included maps and pictures to better explain how to make ziyara in today’s times for women inshaAllah.
