VISITING THE PROPHET’S MOSQUE AND TOMB

Going to Madina and visiting the Prophet’s Mosque and tomb is sunna and brings great reward. God’s Messenger gave the glad tiding that visiting him after his death is like visiting him while he was alive. This visit may be made be-fore or after Hajj. He also said: “The space between my house (where he died and was buried) and my pulpit is one of the gardens of Paradise (Rawda), and my pulpit is at my Fountain in Paradise.” (Bukhari, “Fazl al-Salawat,” 5)

It is recommended that one calls God’s blessings and peace upon the Mes-senger as many times as possible and approaches his mosque calmly and with composure. One should wear perfume, nice clean clothes, and enter the mosque with the right foot. It is recommended that pilgrims first go to the Rawda and offer two rak’ats, with calmness and humility, to “greet” the mosque.

After this one should move toward the Prophet’s grave, face it, give greet-ings of peace to him, and call God’s blessings and peace upon him. Then, moving about a yard to the right, one should offer one’s greetings to Abu Bakr and, moving another yard in the same direction, offer greetings to ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab. Then, facing the qibla, they should supplicate for themselves, their family, friends, relatives, and all Muslims, and then leave.
One should also visit the Jannat al-Baqi cemetery, where many Companions and members of the Prophet’s Family are buried. During the visit, people should talk only loudly enough to hear themselves, and behave with utmost humility and sincerity.