Umrah is the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet ﷺ, which is why people from all over the world love to visit Makkah all year round to perform it. There are a high merit and excellence of this Sunnah and when one performs Umrah in the month of Ramadan, the performance becomes equivalent to Hajj. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ himself insisted on the importance of performing Umrah in the month of Ramadan as it has got a lot of virtues.
Here is a reference as a support to the above-mentioned significance of getting reward equivalent to Hajj:
Al-Bukhari (1782) narrated that Ibn Abbas (R.A) said: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺsaid that performing Umrah in Ramadan is equivalent to Hajj or equivalent to performing Hajj with me”
Performing Umrah in Ramadan does not fulfill the duty of performing Hajj
It is proved that performing Umrah during Ramadan has got the most significant and virtues for those who perform and it has got a reward equivalent to Hajj. This means that performing Umrah and Hajj are two different things. Only performing Umrah in Ramadan benefits as much as performing Hajj but that does not discharge the duty of doing Hajj. Hajj for Allah has the significance of its own.
What is meant by the Hadith is that both the terms become equivalent in reward when Umrah is performed in Ramadan but they are never equal in terms of fulfilling the duty. Moreover, the equivalency of the reward is in terms of quantity but not the type. There is no doubt that Hajj is far more superior to Umrah in terms of the method and actions.
The difference in Types or Nature of Actions
A person who performs Umrah in Ramadan gets the reward equal to that of Hajj but the actions in both of the practices are different thus, the type of reward becomes distinct from the quantity of the reward. For example, Hajj includes special virtues like du’aa in Arafah, stoning the Jamarat, offering sacrifice and more. This is how the rewards of Umrah and Hajj are different in terms of types.
Questions to Address
Now that questions related to rewards and the fulfillment of the duty are clear, let’s move on other questions. So, if Umrah as equal to Hajj in all conditions, should you be forgoing Hajj as you have already performed Umrah in Ramadan?
All these questions can haunt a person who takes the false claims too seriously. There is one thing for sure and one point to be understood with a sound mind and body that Umrah done only in Ramadan is equal to Hajj. Just stick to what is being told in the Hadith and do not listen to people who have less knowledge. Even after performing Umrah during Ramadan, if you haven’t yet performed, Hajj, you are still obligatory to perform it, if you are sahib-istatat. All you have to do is to believe firmly in what you read from the Hadith and pray to Allah to guide you to the right path and keep away from falsehood. Ameen!
