I have a sum of money that I want to spend in either one of the following purposes: Perform ‘Umrah during the month of Sha‘baan or hold a banquet in the month of Ramadan for fasting people. Which of the two deeds is more rewardable?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.

 If you haven't performed ‘Umrah before, then you should use this money for performing ‘Umrah because the preponderant opinion of the two scholarly opinions in this regard is that performing ‘Umrah is obligatory. This is one of the two opinions reported from Imam Ahmad and Ash-Shaafi‘i . Moreover, this opinion was adopted by many of the righteous predecessors, such as ‘Umar, Ibn ‘Abbaas, and Zayd ibn Thaabit all.

However, if you have performed ‘Umrah before, then we believe that you should hold the banquet for the fasting people in Ramadan because of its great reward, in addition to the fact that the benefits of such righteous deed extend to other than its doer, especially if those fasting people are poor.

Moreover, Zayd ibn Khaalid Al-Juhani reported that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: "Whoever gives food to a fasting person to break his fast with will earn a reward like theirs, without that diminishing their reward in the least." [Ahmad, Ibn Maajah, Ad-Daarimi; Tirmithi: Hasan Saheeh]

This is when a person offers food for only one fasting person, so what about offering food for ten or more? This is sufficient for you as virtue and honor.

Allah Knows best.