Thankful Slave: Hajj steps 2: In Madinah

Prophet ( Salla Allahu Aleihi Wa Sallam )'s grave:
While in Madinah, you may be taking this opportunity to start by visiting the Prophet ( Salla Allahu Aleihi Wa Sallam ) grave. I do not know of a specific timing where it will not be crowdy, you just have to go and attempt to make your way through, just be part of the crowd and follow the current until you reach the Rawdah.

Where is the tomb of the Prophet (Salla Allahu Aleihi Wa Sallam) located?:
The grave of the Prophet (S) is located underneath the visible green dome:

Madinah - Front esplanade: reflection of Green dome and minarets onto the shiny marble.

Madinah. Another view of the green dome. Did you notice that the left minaret is different from the other ones?

Exit from Rawdah. You cannot enter from this side, it is a one way only, you will need to get to the Rawdah from the inside of the Mosque.

Green Dome. Under the green dome is the Tomb of our beloved Prophet Muhammed Salla Allahu Aleihi Wa Sallam.

Where to go?

Once you locate the position of the green dome, enter the Prophet (S) mosque from the closest door to it. You will need to aim at a place called the "Rawdha" which is located right before the grave.
The way to know that you are in the "Rawdha" is by the color of the edges of the carpet, which are green. The rest of the carpet in the Mosque have red edges, so just pay attention to this detail or you may end by praying outside that area thinking you are in the right spot. In the past, the whole carpet had different color, this year, it was only the edges, making it more difficult to differentiate, especially when many people are always there praying.

Brass screens in front of grave of the Holy Prophet

1. The Prophet (peace be upon him) 2. Abu Bakr Siddique3. Umar Al Farooq
In front of the sacred tomb of The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him), there are three sections of brass screens and all three have holes in them. Look at the picture carefully. If you stand in front of the middle section between the pillars, you'll see a big round hole on your left. This is in front of the face of the Holy Prophet. Adjacent to it is a door that stays closed. Right after it on the right side is a round hole which is in front of the face of Hadrat Abu Bakr Siddique. On the right of it, there is another round hole which is in front of the face of Hadrat Umar Farooq. Image source: http://www.islamic-travel.ch

Image source: quranforkids.com

What about women?

According to my wife, the women are given "ziarat" time (visit time), which is after Subuh, after Dohor, and after Isha prayers.

Women have to visit the tomb of the Prophet (S) in a group according to continent/ language of the hamlah (group) you are with. If you are Asian and travelling with an Arab group (hamlah), then you will still be going with the Arab group, but you have the possibility to join a group from your same mother tongue. You will see security women holding placards of each continent right after the Prayer, you will need to search for the one holding your continent all across the women praying area. The security is known to be very strict, do not play the hero and stick with the group and stay PATIENT, you will have higher chances to enter the Rawdah by doing so.

The door to the grave/Rawdah opens at 7AM for after Subuh ziarah. From Subuh prayer until this time, you are expected to wait patiently until your turn comes. They only allow a certain number of people at a time and the queue moves forward until the previous group leaves the place. They will then allow for another batch of people to enter the Rawdah and so on.

Note: it might take up to 11:30 AM for the last group to enter Rawdah, but yet, the doors to the visit would be opened at 07:00 and closed by 08:30-09:00~ leaving you short time to be among the visitors, so plan your day accordingly.

Other places to visit:

Sunrise on the Baqee graveyard. Graveyard is behind these walls

You may go and visit the Baqee, which is the graveyard next to the the Nabawi Mosque, where a large number of Sahabah kiram (companions) including Usman, Abbas, Imam Hassan, and wives and daughters of the Holy Prophet are buried. This graveyard is close to the tomb of the Holy Prophet (Salla Allahu Aleihi wa Sallam), right after the courtyard of Masjid Nabawi.

Entrance of the Baqee is on that ramp shown on the right hand side of the picture

Walls of the Baqee graveyard. If you exit from the front end of the Mosque, it will be located on your left hand side.

Other places:

Masjid Quba: This is the first mosque in the history of Islam whose foundation stone was laid down by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) himself on his migration to Madinah. To offer 2 raka'ats of Nafil prayer in it is equal to performing one Umrah as per authentic Hadith. It is highly recommended to visit this Masjid and pray inside it.

Masjid Qiblatain (the 2 Qiblah): This Masjid is known to have two qiblahs, as the Sahabas were praying towards Palestine when the verses on changing Qiblah was revealed, someone told them that the Qiblah had been changed to Mekkah, so the Sahabas shifted to the new Qiblah accordingly without cutting their salat

Shopping:

I personally think that the best timing to perform your shopping should be while being in Madinah. You will find the same articles than in Mekkah anyway, the price is more or less the same, you are less tired and the shops are close by. Once in Mekkah, you will have little time to perform shopping (unless you are there for a long time), and you will be tired from the hajj rituals.

Madinah - Shops by the walls for the Baqee graveyard.

I have seen people running out of money because of shopping, so make duas of the market before entering any shopping place, this will avoid you overspending on items you do not really need, it will be a good test for your nafs to be controlled.

Once you have your nafs under control, take her to the Gold Suk and give her a test:

Gold Suk in Madinah

Best medicine to apply: close your eyes and carry your way

Gold Suk in Madinah...one advise: remember that once we die, we will not take any of our wealth with us...

Food:

Madinah: a place to sit and savor a good shawarma sandwich

Madinah has many places where you could easily find food that suits your taste. All the restaurants are within close vicinity of the Masjid Nabawi, so just take the time to look around for the one you like most. Our group had open buffet for food, we did not face any issue with that, food was plentiful and of good quality al hamdulil'Allah, but I had relatives coming with other groups and their package did not include food, so be careful with whom you chose to perform hajj as this could drain your money very quickly over a short period of time.