Umrah Ramadan 2016 : Masjid Nabawi

Continuation from here ..

We arrived at the hotel about 9.30pm. Settling this and that, it was a bit late already to join terawih prayer so my sisters and I just rested in the room after check-in, and prayed inside the room.

The prayer time in Madinah is earlier than Kuala Lumpur, except for Isyak.
Subuh was at 4.03am during that time. So right after terawih, I went to sleep. Gotta wake up early tomorrow!

Woke up at 3am, bathed, got ready and off we went.

I was in awe the whole time walking towards the mosque. The waves of people at 3 in the morning. All heading to one direction, the mosque. A scenario you’ll never see back home.

The nearest gate from my hotel is Gate 13. As I passed the gate, in front of me, standing so majestic is the beautiful Masjid Nabawi. So much love and affection for it. Subhanallah! Can’t believe I am here!

17 Ramadan 1437. My first time visiting Masjid Nabawi and prayed inside the holy mosque.

that very first time in Masjid Nabawi…

No proper photo cos Awal said Lara is afraid of ladies in black jubah hahaha..

We gathered and sit in front of ladies entrance at Gate 25. Our Ustazah told us we need to wait as we came in rather huge group. While waiting for the heads up from the guards, she told us some stories and historical facts about Masjid Nabawi, Raudhah, Jannat al-Baqi’ and of course about our beloved Prophet, Muhammad SAW. 

Some interesting infos on Masjid Nabawi. 

It was originally built by our prophet, Muhammad SAW, next to the house where he settled after his Hijrah from Mecca to Medina in 622. It has now become the final resting place of him and his two beloved companions, caliphs Abu Bakar and Umar. 

From a small mosque, it underwent many phases of renovations to expand its capacity. Masjid Nabawi is now one of the largest mosque in the world, accommodating over 1.5 millions of worshipers. The mosque has rectangular plan on two floors. I’ve never been to the upper floor though.

Despite being enlarged, the shiny new mosque still contains the older mosque within it. The two sections can be easily distinguished; the older section has many colorful decorations and numerous small pillars while the new section has gleaming white marble. 

At the heart of the mosque is a small area called Raudhah, which extends from his tomb to his pulpit. It is every worshipers’ wish to visit and pray there as according to a hadith, any doa made in Raudhah is never rejected, insyaAllah.   

Visiting Raudhah and the tomb of Rasulullah deserves a post on its own so I’ll write about it later.

As for Jannat al-Baqi’, this cemetery area is adjacent to Masjid Nabawi on the Southeast and regarded as an important landmark cos it is where most of Rasulullah’s close family, relatives and companions were buried. Among them are all his wives except Khadijah, his daughters Umi Kalthom, Ruqiyah and Zainab, his foster mom Halimah, his uncle Abbas and Saidina Uthman bin Affan. But ladies cannot enter the cemetery area. We can only see it from outside the fences.

Let’s see photos of the mosque.

The Inside.

beautiful interior architecture

This dome will slide to open at certain times, transforming a domed chamber into an open courtyard. There are 27 of these.

inner courtyard

inner courtyard nearby Raudhah

inside Raudhah

spacious area, worshipers sleep in the mosque while waiting for Zohor prayers

The Outside.

ladies entrance, Gate 25

below the green dome lies the tomb of our beloved Prophet, Muhammad SAW

And then, there’s the famous giant umbrellas.

I took this video before sunrise, at about 5.20am.

Miss this place so muchhhh!!!