The Rawdah is the area of the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah that many Moroccan pilgrims hope to visit before or after their Umrah. This page does not describe the visit itself. It explains the booking that gives access to it: how often you can make one, what it commits you to, and where the published information stops.
It is written for two kinds of readers. The first is the pilgrim travelling from Morocco. The second is often a son or daughter in France, Belgium, Spain or Canada who handles the apps for a parent and needs to know, before the trip, which rules can catch the family out.
One caution before the details. Every rule below was reported by the Gulf press, citing either the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah or Nusuk's management. We have not found an official text that sets these rules for the current season. Each rule therefore carries the name of its source in the same sentence, and the app itself remains the reference at the moment you book.
“Confirmed” means the information comes from a publication of the Saudi ministry itself. “To check” means a news outlet reported it and we have not read the original text. “Unknown” means we looked and found nothing we could rely on.
Do you need a separate booking for the Rawdah?
Yes: since December 2023, the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has issued a Rawdah visit permit through the Nusuk or Tawakkalna apps, according to Gulf News, citing the ministry (December 2023)1. Nusuk is the Saudi platform pilgrims use for their bookings. Tawakkalna is a Saudi public-services app. Both names are explained in the guide's glossary.
This booking is separate from the Umrah one. Umrah permits for the 1448 season opened on 1 June 2026, together with entry to Makkah4. The Rawdah is in Madinah, and visiting it is not part of the Umrah itself, as the practical side of the Umrah steps explains. Holding one booking does not give you the other.
What this means when you organise from abroad
For a family spread across two countries, the practical question is simple: whose phone, and whose account, will hold the Rawdah booking? Settle it before departure. If your parent travels with a group, ask the organiser whether the group handles Rawdah bookings or leaves them to each pilgrim. If you are the one holding the account, make sure the person travelling with your parent can see the booking details too.
We do not know, from our sources, whether a Rawdah slot can be booked before the pilgrim reaches Saudi Arabia, or only once they are there. Plan for both cases until you can see it in the app.
Your parent's entry to Saudi Arabia is a separate file again, with its own papers and timings, covered in the guide's chapter on entry papers for Moroccans.
How often can you book?
The general rule, as reported, is one visit permit every 365 days, according to Gulf News, citing the ministry (December 2023)1. We have found no newer text that changes it.
Two situations come up again and again in families.
A pilgrim going back within the year. Someone who visited the Rawdah during a recent Umrah cannot, under the reported rule, book an ordinary visit again before the period has run out, according to Gulf News, citing the ministry (December 2023)1. Check this before you promise a parent the visit on a second trip.
A first trip. For a first Umrah the question does not arise: there is no earlier visit on record. What remains is choosing a slot that fits the days spent in Madinah.
Our sources do not say when the yearly period starts: from the date of the booking, or from the date of the visit. Nor do they say whether a booking that was cancelled in time counts towards it.
How long is the visit?
A visit is limited to 10 minutes, according to Gulf News; check in the Nusuk app2. The figure comes from guidelines that newspaper reported. We have not read it in a current official text.
A short visit changes the preparation, especially with an older parent. If the booking shows a time, allow for the walk to the mosque, the walk inside it and a margin for crowds, so the slot is not lost on the way. Someone who walks slowly needs more of that margin than a younger traveller. We have no source on wheelchair access to the Rawdah: ask whoever organises the Madinah part of the trip.
What families see in Madinah beyond the Rawdah is outside the scope of this guide. If you are planning that part of the stay as well, Wiki Tours' overview of visiting Madinah describes it.
What if you miss your slot?
This is the rule that surprises people most. A booking that is neither used nor cancelled blocks any new booking for 1 year, according to Gulf News; check in the Nusuk app2.
In practice, a no-show without a cancellation costs twice: the planned visit is lost, and the next one cannot be booked for a long time. A few habits keep that risk low.
The sequence
- As soon as the booking is confirmed, note the day and time it shows and send them to whoever travels with your parent.
- If the Madinah plan changes (a flight, tiredness, illness, a hotel move), cancel in the app before the time shown.
- In a group, agree on who manages each person's booking and who cancels if something comes up.
- If you manage the account from another country, check which time zone the app displays before you plan around it.
We do not know how close to the visit a cancellation is still accepted. Look for it in the app when you book, and cancel early rather than late.
The Immediate Path exception
There is one known exception to the yearly rule: a Rawdah visit can be repeated during the year through the Nusuk app's Immediate Path service if the worshipper is close to the Prophet's Mosque, according to Gulf News, citing Nusuk's management3.
As reported, this is for people who are already near the mosque when they ask. That is all our source says. It gives no distance, no opening hours and no list of who can use it. Do not build a family programme on this exception. Treat it as something to look for in the app once in Madinah, and keep the ordinary booking as the plan.
Where can you follow rule changes?
Rawdah rules tend to change without a large announcement, and the press often reports them before an official text is easy to find. We track every rule on this page, with its source and the date we last checked it, in the guide's official calendar. When the ministry confirms a rule, its status there moves to “confirmed” and this page is updated with it.
What the sources do not say yet
- The current official text. We found no ministry publication that sets these rules for the current season; what we have comes from the press.
- This season's rules. We do not know whether the 1448 season, which opened to Umrah bookings on 1 June 2026, changed anything for the Rawdah4.
- When the yearly period starts. Our sources do not say whether it runs from the booking or from the visit.
- The length of a visit this season. The reported figure is 10 minutes, according to Gulf News; check in the Nusuk app2.
- The cancellation cut-off. We do not know how long before the visit a cancellation still counts.
- Booking before arrival. We do not know whether a slot can be booked from Morocco or Europe, before the pilgrim reaches Saudi Arabia.
- The Immediate Path conditions. Distance, hours and who can use the service are not published in our sources.
- Children. We do not know whether a child needs a separate Rawdah booking; the age rule we know of concerns Umrah permits, with 5 as the minimum age on Nusuk, according to Ajel, citing the ministry (August 2026)5.
- Access for people with reduced mobility, and any fee. Nothing in our register.
Getting help from an agency
Rawdah bookings are often made on a relative's phone, sometimes from Morocco, sometimes from abroad, sometimes once the group is in Madinah. An agency can organise the Madinah stay and help a group with its bookings. It cannot change the rules of the booking, and it cannot obtain a visit the app refuses. Whichever agency you consider, check its licence before you pay, including the licence of this guide's publisher: until the official proof is published, this site claims nothing about it. agenceomra.ma explains how to check an agency's licence. If you would like to talk it through with the guide's publisher, the button below opens a conversation.