Differentiating Hajj & Umrah!

Although both Hajj and Umrah are the holy pilgrimages from the point of view of Islam, there are many people, who cannot differentiate both of these if they are ever asked to explain. Being a Muslim, one should always know the clear cut differences between both these holy pilgrimages so that they have better knowledge and understanding of Islam and convey the same to non-believers.

Muslims all around the world aim to go for Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages. In most of the countries like Pakistan, Hajj and UmrahTravel Service providers are same private and government companies. Nevertheless, many of the rituals and practices of both Hajj and Umrah are similar but there are some differences too.

On one hand, Hajj is considered as the major pilgrimage and Umrah is considered as a lesser one. Even from the religious point of view, significance of Hajj is higher than the significance of Umrah.

Rituals of Umrah include Ihram (purification), circling of Ka’aba, walking between the two sacred mountain hills, drinking Zamzam water and shaving or cutting the hair. On the other hand, Hajj includes all these rituals, along with spending days and nights in areas neighboring the city of Mecca, stoning the devil and slaughtering the animal in the name of Allah.

One of the major differences between Hajj and Umrah is that Hajj is strictly performed in the designated month of Zilhajj whereas Umrah can be performed anytime of the year.

From Islamic point of view, Hajj is superior because it is one of the 5 pillars of Islam. Allah has made Hajj an obligation for all the Muslims to be performed at least once during their lifetimes. This obligation is clearly mentioned in the holy book of Quran and authentic sayings of Prophet (P.BU.H). On the other hand, different scholars have different opinions regarding Umrah. Some scholars consider is obligatory while there are others, who regard it as non-obligatory. Scholars believe that though it is a pilgrimage of high value it is not obligatory. Some religious scholars also believe that in order to be a better Muslim, it is better to perform both the pilgrimages.

Hajj is of 3 basic types while Umrah is of 2 types. Types of Hajj include the literal Hajj, Hajj and Umrah during Hajj days and Hajj and Umrah on separate days, whereas Umrah types include Umrah without Hajj and Umrah with Hajj.