Short answer
The talbiyah is the pilgrim's call: "Labbayk Allahumma labbayk, labbayka la sharika laka labbayk, innal hamda wan ni'mata laka wal mulk, la sharika lak." In the Hanafi school saying it once with the intention starts ihram, and repeating it often is sunnah. You stop at the start of tawaf in umrah, and at the first stone on 10 Dhul Hijjah in Hajj.
Saying the talbiyah once with the intention is a condition of entering ihram; repeating it is sunnah, especially on changes of state (rising, descending, meeting groups, after prayers). Men say it aloud and women quietly.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i and Hanbali
- The talbiyah is sunnah, not a condition of ihram. In Hajj it stops at the start of stoning Jamrat al-Aqabah, as in the Hanafi school.
- Maliki
- It is wajib with a dam if left. In umrah many Maliki texts say to stop on entering the Haram, and in Hajj on setting out for Arafah's prayer place.
Explanation
The words, as Ibn Umar reported them from the Prophet ﷺ, are:
Labbayk Allahumma labbayk. Labbayka la sharika laka labbayk. Innal hamda wan ni'mata laka wal mulk. La sharika lak.
Here I am, O Allah, here I am. Here I am, You have no partner, here I am. All praise and blessing are Yours, and the dominion. You have no partner.
It answers the call of Ibrahim, whom Allah told to proclaim the Hajj to mankind. You may add words of praise after it, as Ibn Umar used to, but do not cut or change the original words.
- Start: with the intention at the miqat (see niyyah for umrah).
- During: often, especially when going up or down, meeting other pilgrims, after prayers and at dawn. A pilgrim who dies in ihram is raised saying it.
- Men: aloud, without straining or disturbing others. Women: so that only they can hear.
- Stop in umrah: when you begin tawaf at the Black Stone.
- Stop in Hajj: with the first pebble at Jamrat al-Aqabah on 10 Dhul Hijjah.
- In a group: each person says it himself. Saying it in one chanting voice led by someone is not the Sunnah way, though it is not forbidden.
For the whole sequence of umrah, see our umrah guide.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Hajj 22:27
وَأَذِّن فِى ٱلنَّاسِ بِٱلْحَجِّ يَأْتُوكَ رِجَالًۭا وَعَلَىٰ كُلِّ ضَامِرٍۢ يَأْتِينَ مِن كُلِّ فَجٍّ عَمِيقٍۢ ﴿٢٧﴾
And proclaim to the people the Hajj [pilgrimage]; they will come to you on foot and on every lean camel; they will come from every distant pass -
The talbiyah answers the call to Hajj.
Sahih al-Bukhari 1549
Sahih... لبيك اللهم لبيك لبيك لا شريك لك لبيك إن الحمد والنعمة لك والملك لا شريك لك ...
"Here I am, O Allah, here I am. Here I am, You have no partner, here I am. All praise and blessing are Yours, and the dominion; You have no partner."
The wording of the Prophet's talbiyah.
Sahih al-Bukhari 1543
Sahih... لم يزل النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم يلبي حتى رمى جمرة العقبة ...
"The Prophet kept saying the talbiyah until he stoned Jamrat al-Aqabah."
When the talbiyah stops in Hajj.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Hajj, chapter on ihram. The talbiyah with the intention enters ihram; it is repeated after prayers and on changes of state.
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Hajj, chapter on umrah. The pilgrim in umrah stops the talbiyah when he begins tawaf.
- al-Sharh al-Kabir (Dardir) on Mukhtasar Khalil, Kitab al-Hajj, on the talbiyah. The Maliki view that it is wajib.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.