“ ‘Umrah during Ramadan is equivalent to Hajj (i.e. in reward).”

I asked the Messenger of Allah (PBUH): "Inform me of an act which will cause me to enter Jannah and keep me far from Hell." He (PBUH) replied, "You have asked me about a matter of great importance, but it is easy for one for whom Allah makes it easy." He added, "Worship Allah, associate nothing with Him in worship, offer As-Salat (the prayer), pay the Zakat, observe Saum (fasting) during Ramadan and perform Hajj (pilgrimage) to the House of Allah, if you can afford it." He (PBUH) further said, "Shall I not guide you to the gates of goodness? Fasting is a screen (from Hell), charity extinguishes (i.e., removes) the sins as water extinguishes fire, and standing in prayers by a slave of Allah during the last third part of the night." Then he recited: "Their sides forsake their beds, to invoke their Rabb in fear and hope, and they spend (in charity in Allah's Cause) out of what We have bestowed on them. No person knows what is kept hidden for them of joy as a reward for what they used to do." (32:16-17) Then he added, "Shall I tell you of the root of the matter, its pillar and its highest point?" I replied: "Yes! Certainly, O Prophet of Allah." He said, "The root of this matter (foundation) is Islam, its pillar (mainstay is) As-Salat (the prayer) and its highest point is Jihad (fighting in the Cause of Allah)." Then he asked, "Shall I tell you of that which holds all these things?" I said: "Yes, O Messenger of Allah." So he took hold of his tongue and said, "Keep this in control." I asked: "O Messenger of Allah! Shall we really be accounted for what we talk about?" He replied, "May your mother lose you! People will be thrown on their faces into the Hell on account of their tongues."

“I saw in a dream that I was at the gate of Paradise, and I saw them both. Someone had come out from Paradise and he gave permission to the one who died last (to enter); then he came out and gave permission to the one who had been martyred. Then they both came back to me and said to me: Go back, for your time has not yet come.” The next morning, Talhah told the people about that and they were amazed by it. News of that reached the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and he said: “Why are you amazed?` They said: “O Messenger of Allah, this one strove harder in worship and then was martyred for the sake of Allah, but the other one entered Paradise before him?” He said: `Did he not remain for a year after (the other one) died?” They said: “Yes.” He said: “Did he not live until Ramadan came and fast it?” They said: “Yes.” He said: `Did he not pray this many rak`ahs during that year?` They said: “Yes.” The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Verily, the distance between them is the distance between heaven and earth.”

I said, “Inform me, messenger of God, of an act which will cause me to enter paradise and remove me far from hell.” He replied, “You have asked a serious question, but it is easy for the one whom God helps to answer it. Worship God, associate nothing with Him, observe the prayer, pay the zakat, fast during Ramadan, and make the Pilgrimage to the House.” He said, “Shall I not guide you to the gateways of what is good? Fasting is a protection, and almsgiving extinguishes sin as water extinguishes fire, and a man's prayer in the middle of the night [has the same effect].” Then he recited, “Withdrawing themselves from their couches ... they have been doing.” ¹ Then he said, “Shall I not guide you to the head and support of the matter and the top of its hump?” I replied, “Yes, messenger of God.” He said, “The head of the matter is Islam, its support is prayer, and the top of its hump is jihad.” Then he said, “Shall I not inform you of the controlling of all that?” I replied, “Yes, Prophet of God.” So he took hold of his tongue and said, “Restrain this.” I asked, “Prophet of God, shall we really be punished for what we talk about?” He replied, “I am surprised at you, ² Mu'adh! Will anything but the harvests of their tongues overthrow men in hell on their faces (or, on their nostrils)?” Ahmad, Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah transmitted it. ¹ Quran, xxxii, 16f. ² Literally, may your mother be bereft of you.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam from his brother Khalid ibn Aslam that Umar ibn al-Khattab once broke thefast on a cloudy day thinking that evening had come and the sun had set. Then a man came to him and said, "Amir al-muminin, the sun has come out,'' and Umar said, "That's an easy matter. It was our deduction (ijtihad)."

Malik said, "According to what we think, and Allah knows best, what he was referring to when he said, 'That's an easy matter' was making up the fast, and how slight the effort involved was and how easy it was. He was saying (in effect), 'We will fast another day in its place.' "

“ ‘Umrah during Ramadan is equivalent to Hajj.”

When the month of Ramadan came, I feared lest I would have intercourse with my wife. So, I vowed az-Zihar (the she was like my mother). Then, one night something of her was uncovered to me and I had intercourse with her. Allah's Messenger (SAW) afterwards said to me, "Set a slave free," and I replied, "I do not possess one (that I can free)." He said, "Then fast two consecutive months." I replied, "Have I fallen into that which I have fallen into except due to fasting!?" He said, "Feed sixty poor people with an 'Araq (basket) of dates." [Reported by Ahmad and al-Arba'a except an-Nasa'i. Ibn Khuzaimah and Ibn al-Jarud graded it Sahih (authentic)].