Umrah is known to be the ‘minor Hajj’ and it is a Sunnah act performed at any time of the year except for the five days of Hajj, in which it is makrooh, or disliked, to perform Umrah. One who steps out in the path of Umrah is considered a pilgrim until he reaches back home. In a hadith found in the book of Ibne Maajah, The Prophet (SAW) said: “The performers of Hajj and Umrah are deputations of Allah (SWT). If they call Him, He answers them and if they seek His forgiveness, He forgives them.” This hadeeth clearly shows the great significance of Umrah and how much Allah (SWT) loves those who sacrifice their time and wealth for His cause. In another hadeeth, the Prophet (SWS) says:
One Umrah is an expiation for the sins committed between it and another Umrah. (Bukhari, Muslim)
The above hadeeth implies that Umrah is not something we perform just once, but rather one should strive to perform Umrah multiple times in their lives. Unfortunately, nowadays, some people go for Umrah without even knowing the great virtues and blessings of the many actions we perform on this journey. It is extremely critical and important that a person who intends to perform Umrah learn the basics of this act of worship including the obligatory actions and what makes Umrah null and what should be done in case there is a chance to compensate for mistakes. As it is the case for Hajj, there are many people who perform Umrah and it will be accepted from them by Allah (SWT), but there are others who do not just perform Umrah as a duty and leave, but they also seize this great opportunity to get a lot of reward from Allah (SWT) and have their sins forgiven. And the best way to get the reward is by following the best pilgrim and the best worshipper of Allah, Muhammad (SAW).