What a scam. Shame on the Museum to be located right in front of the Messenger (PBUH) and about his Seerah and con people. This is a genuine review and I truly hope people read this and do not waste their money. I am a positive person - you can read all my reviews on Google - I have never left a negative review but unfortunately this place has compelled me to do so.
We visited last week when we were in the Blessed City. The cost is SAR 40 per person including for each of my children - this seemed a lot pricy but we thought it must be really good to justify this. There was some guilt because there were a lot of people asking about the cost and once they find out, they leave as cannot afford it. However, they are the lucky ones that didnt put their money down a drain.
Anyway, when you enter, you have a guide. There are lots of screens with lots of information. Our guide started off telling us a bit about the seerah and then quickly moved between a few screens - skips most of them and just chose what he wanted. One lady mentioned he was going too fast and he abruptly said they have 60 screens and if he doesnt go fast, he will not be able to cover them. This was a bare-faced lie because in reality he never tried, nor was his intention to cover everything. In the whole tour, we barely saw 10 screens.
The screens are interactive and have a lot of information - for example, the Prophet's characteristics or the food he ate. The Guide would simply load it, click on a few like dates, pumpkin and brag about what they have created in the museum. In actual fact, they have created superb interactive and informative screens but the downside is that you DO NOT get a chance to look through them. You are at the mercy of your guide who cannot wait to get rid of you and take the next batch of poor pilgrims - you feel like cattle being moved from pen to pen.
After moving between a few screens and showing us a model of Makaah and Madinah, you are taken to a room for 3-D viewing of old items. This is a joke - there are items on the screen and you just move them around with your fingers. If you want something like this, just Google for an item and use your mouse at home!
Then they took us to a 5 minute movie.... this is a laugh - people walking like Zombies in between houses in old Makkah. When you imagine how realistic video games are these days, couldnt they have hired professionals and not used amateurs for something like this.
Anyway, within 10 minutes it was over. Before you know it, you are sent into a Gift shop to Exit. Everyone was shocked. We were expecting a lot more. Even my kids aged 9 to 16 found it boring.
We asked the receptionist in the gift shop why we didnt get a book which some reviewers mention - she just said "finished". I said so we get nothing? She was obviously irritated and rudely said "No"! I went back to the front and asked if there is any way I could get photos of the models of old Makkah and Madinah at least so can study where the houses of the Sahabah were and he pointed me to the QR code and said it is all on our website. Well, unsurprisingly they are not - the website is all about booking.
Please, please dont waste your money. Buy a KG of Ajwah dates instead. They will satisfy you more than this.
My advise to the museum and the Guides is fear Allah (swt). Either keep the cost the same but let pilgrims spend more time and use the interactive screens themselves and learn more, or reduce the cost and do what you currently do - you seem to have good reviews which are probably from pilgrims who are impressed with the brief seerah introduction and basic graphics so there does seem to be a demand for this. Alternatively, have big hearts and make it free like a Dawah project.
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