To book a Rawdah appointment in 2026, download the Nusuk app (the official Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah platform), register with your passport number and Umrah visa number, and navigate to “Prophet’s Mosque Services” to select your date and time slot. Slots release roughly 7 to 10 days ahead and fill within seconds.
A lot of UK pilgrims plan their entire Madinah trip around visiting the Rawdah. They book flights, pack their ihram, and tell the family they are going. But they assume booking the actual slot is something to sort out once they land.
That assumption has cost thousands of pilgrims their one chance to pray there.
In 2026, the Rawdah requires a pre-booked digital permit, no exceptions. Security at the gate scans your QR code. No code means no entry, regardless of how far you travelled. This guide walks you through the exact steps, what to do when slots look empty, and the rules UK pilgrims most often miss.
What the Rawdah actually is
The Rawdah (full name: Riyad ul-Jannah, meaning Garden of Paradise) is a specific area inside Masjid Nabawi in Madinah. It sits between the Prophet Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) blessed grave and his minbar (his pulpit).
The Prophet (peace be upon him) described it as a garden from the gardens of Paradise. That is why visiting it carries such personal, spiritual weight for so many pilgrims making the journey from the UK. We understand that completely.
The Saudi authorities introduced the digital permit system to give every pilgrim a fair and orderly chance. It is crowd management, yes, but it also means your visit is protected time rather than a scramble.
The rule that matters most in 2026
Book your Rawdah slot before you leave the UK. Not at the hotel. Not at the airport. Before you fly.
We have spoken to pilgrims from Manchester, Birmingham, and East London who built their whole Madinah itinerary around this visit and then opened the app on arrival to find every slot gone for their entire stay. By the time you land, check in, and find your footing, the available dates are already red.
The Nusuk app is now mandatory for all international pilgrims, regardless of nationality. There are no walk-in passes, no agent workarounds, and no exemptions for UK travellers.
The Once-Per-Year Policy (Easy to Miss)
Each person can book the Rawdah only once every 365 days. This applies across all trip types, including Umrah, Hajj, and tourist visits.
So if you visited the Rawdah during Umrah in February and you return for Hajj in June (within the same 12-month window), you will not be eligible for a second booking. That makes your permitted slot something to take seriously and plan for properly.
It is also worth noting that men and women have completely separate visiting hours inside the Rawdah. The booking process on the Nusuk app is the same for both, but make sure you select the correct gender option before you confirm. Getting that wrong means your permit will not work at the gate.
What the Nusuk app is and how to download it
The Nusuk app is the official platform from the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah. It manages Umrah permits, Rawdah bookings, and Hajj services in one place. You cannot use a third-party app or a travel agent’s portal as a substitute for your personal booking.
Download it directly from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Before installing, confirm the publisher listed is the official Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah. There are imitation apps with similar names and logos. Avoid them entirely.
Once you have the real app, register using your passport details exactly as they appear on your document (including name order) and your Umrah visa number. Do this at home on a stable Wi-Fi connection. Also update both your phone software and the Nusuk app itself before you travel. Many login errors UK pilgrims report come from running an outdated version.
How to book your Rawdah permit on the Nusuk app
Once your Nusuk account is set up at home (before you travel), the booking itself takes under two minutes. You need to know where to tap and, more importantly, when to tap.
Here is the exact sequence:
- Open the app and tap “Prophet’s Mosque Services” on the home screen.
- Choose either “Praying in the Noble Rawdah, Men” or “Praying in the Noble Rawdah, Women” based on your gender. Do not rush past this. Men’s and women’s sessions run at completely separate times, and a permit booked under the wrong option will not work at the gate.
- Your name appears with a checkbox. Tick it. If family members are linked to your account as companions, their names appear here too. Tick each person travelling with you, then tap “Continue”.
- You will now see the calendar. Read the colours before you do anything else (more on this below).
- Tap a green date, choose your 30-minute time window, and tap “Issue Permit”.
- Screenshot the QR code the moment it appears. Do not browse away, do not check another tab, do not lock your phone. That QR code is your entry pass and you want it saved locally, not just inside the app.
Reading the calendar colours
The calendar uses three colours and each one means something completely different:
- Grey means that date has not been released yet. It is not sold out. It is simply not open. Grey is actually good news.
- Red means fully booked.
- Green means slots are available right now, book immediately.
Most UK pilgrims see a calendar full of grey and assume every date is gone. They close the app and give up. Please do not do that. A grey calendar just means you are checking early. Keep checking back.
When slots open (The timing most people never find out)
New Rawdah slots are released on Friday afternoons in KSA time for the following week. Separate from that, smaller batches of slots also open at the top and bottom of each hour throughout the day (so at 12:00, 12:30, 13:00, 13:30, and so on in KSA time). These go in seconds.
For UK pilgrims, here is the time difference you need to save. Saudi Arabia runs on UTC+3 all year. Right now in the UK, we are on BST (UTC+1), which means Saudi Arabia is two hours ahead of you. So 12:00 KSA is 10:00 AM UK time. From late October through March when the UK switches back to GMT, Saudi Arabia is three hours ahead, making 12:00 KSA equal to 09:00 AM UK.
The practical approach: set a Friday phone alarm for 10:00 AM UK time (9:00 AM in winter) and have the Nusuk app already open on the calendar screen. That puts you in the best position to catch a slot the moment it appears.
The refresh trick that actually works
A lot of people spend 30 minutes swiping through the calendar without anything changing. That is because swiping back and forth inside the same session does not pull fresh data from the server.
What works instead: exit the Rawdah service screen completely, go back to the Nusuk home screen, wait a moment, and re-enter the booking section. That forces a clean reload. Try it at the top and bottom of each hour rather than staring at the calendar continuously.
Moving along to what happens once you actually get a slot: confirm your permit, then check your booking under the “My Permits” section of the app to make sure it is listed there. Your permit will show your name, date, time window, and entry gate.
Which gate do you use
Your permit will state the gate clearly, so always read it. As a general guide, men typically enter through the Bilal Gate (Gate 25) at the back of Masjid Nabawi, and women typically enter through the Pullman side (Gate 37 area). Gate assignments can vary, so treat these as a rough guide only and confirm on your actual permit.
Arrive at the gate at least 15 to 20 minutes before your slot. The queue outside can be long. If you miss your window, you cannot enter for that booking, and given the once-per-year rule, that matters a great deal.
One final thing before your visit day: charge your phone fully and bring a portable battery pack. You need your QR code on screen at the gate. A dead phone means no entry, and that is a heart breaking situation we would never want you to face after travelling all the way from the UK.
What to do when you cannot find any slots
Seeing a fully red or all-grey calendar is genuinely stressful, especially when your flight is two weeks away. But here is the catch: cancellations appear throughout the day, every single day. Real pilgrims cancel, reschedule, and release slots constantly.
The approach that works: check the app three times a day using the re-entry refresh method from Section 2. Morning, early afternoon, and evening (all in KSA time) covers the windows where cancellations most commonly appear. You are not looking for a full batch release. You are looking for one green square.
On top of that, keep your travel dates flexible within your Madinah stay if at all possible. A slot on Day 3 of your trip is just as valid as one on Day 1. More date flexibility means more chances to find green.
If you are travelling during Ramadan (the busiest period of the year), start checking the app as soon as your Umrah visa is issued. Do not wait until you are a week out. Competition for Rawdah slots during Ramadan is unlike any other time. Early registration and early checking is genuinely important then.
On the day of your visit
A few practical things worth knowing before you walk to the gate:
- Arrive 15 to 20 minutes early. The queue builds up quickly and if you miss your time window, your permit expires.
- Dress modestly and correctly. Men in clean, appropriate clothing and women in full abaya with their face veil rules in mind for the area.
- Have your QR code on screen before you join the queue. Do not wait until you reach the guard to open the app.
- Children under 10 are not permitted inside the Rawdah area during most visiting hours (check your permit for any specific guidance).
- Do not carry large bags. There is limited storage and security checks slow everything down.
- You will likely have 15 to 30 minutes inside. Make your duas and salawat with focus. You have worked hard to be there.
Before you go
We know how much this visit means. Praying in the Rawdah is one of the most spiritually significant moments a Muslim can experience, and arriving prepared means you can be fully present when you get there.
If you are still planning your Umrah trip and want help understanding the broader Nusuk requirements, visa processes, or Madinah hotel options close to Masjid Nabawi, we have guides that walk through all of it step by step. You do not have to piece this together from ten different sources.
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