Umrah is a Sunnah of the Holy Prophet ﷺ, which is the reason why people from around the globe love visiting Makkah all year in order to perform Umrah. There is excellence and high merit of this Sunnah and when one performs Umrah amid Ramadan, the Umrah may equal a Hajj. The Holy Prophet ﷺ himself determined the significance of performing Umrah during the month of Ramadan as it can bring endless virtues. Here is a hadith reference to determine that an Umrah during Ramadan is equal to Hajj:
According to Bukhari, Ibn Abbas RA said: The Holy Prophet ﷺ said that performing Umrah during Ramdan is equal to Hajj or equivalent to performing Hajj with me.”
It has been proved that performing Umrah amid Ramadan gives a lot of virtues and is equal to performing a Hajj. This means that performing Hajj and Umrah are two different things. Only performing Umrah in Ramadan can benefit like performing Hajj but that doesn’t discharge the duty to perform Hajj. Hajj has its own significance.
What is meant by the Hadith above is that both these terms can be equal in reward while you perform Umrah in Ramadan. However, they are never equal as far as fulfilling your religious duties is concerned. In addition, the equivalency or the value of the reward is in terms of quantity, not type. There isn’t any doubt that the Hajj is superior compared to Umrah in terms of actions and methods. So, yes, Umrah in Ramdan can equal a Hajj.
Anyone who performs Umrah during Ramdan gets the reward equal to that of a Hajj but the actions in both cases are different. However, the type of reward is different from the quantity of the reward.