The Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam, and it is a significant act of worship which encompasses many types of religious observances. The one who performs Hajj sincerely for Allah, in accordance with the guidance of the Messenger ﷺ, he will receive a great reward from Allah, Most Exalted. For that [reason], observing the etiquettes of the Hajj is necessary, just as Prophet ﷺ taught us. In this hadeeth, the taabiʿee Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr al-Thaqafee reports that he asked ‘Anas ibn Maalik (may Allah be pleased with him) about the permissible forms of Allah’s remembrance the pilgrims can say while departing from Minaa towards ʿArafaat, which occurs on the morning of the Day of ʿArafah, the ninth day [in the month of] DhulHijjah. Minaa is a valley surrounded by mountains and is located east of Makkah, and is on the path between Makkah and Mount ʿArafaat, close to 6 kilometres away from the Masjid Al-Haram. Some of the rituals of Hajj are performed in Minaa, such as throwing the pebbles at the Jamaraat. ʿArafaat is a mountain on the path between Makkah and Ṭaa’if, and is approximately: 22 kilometres away from Makkah, 10 kilometres from Minaa, and 6 kilometres from Muzdalifah. The most important ritual of Hajj is performed nearby, which is the stay at [the plains] of ʿArafah on the ninth day of DhulHijjah. ‘Anas ibn Maalik (may Allah be pleased with him) then informed Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr al-Thaqafee that when they performed the Hajj with the Prophet ﷺ, on his ﷺ Farewell Pilgrimage, in the 10th year A.H - some of pilgrims recited the talbiyah, so he then said: “LabbaykAllaahummaLabbayk!” - [i.e., “Here I am, O Lord, Here I am!], and raised their voices while doing it. Some of the others recited the takbeer: “Allaahu Akbar!” - [i.e., “Allah is the Greatest!”] and raised their voices while doing so. Either way, the Prophet ﷺ did not reproach them [while they did this]. This is a confirmation from the Prophet ﷺ about the permissibility of Allah’s remembrance, whether it is the takbeer or the talbiyah. It has been said that the intended meaning behind this is that one can insert anything that pertains to Allah’s remembrance during one’s utterance of the talbiyah; [but] he should not leave the talbiyah in its entirety - because it is narrated on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ that heﷺ did not stop reciting the talbiyah until the throwing of the pebbles at Jamarat al-ʿAqabah. The talbiyah, rather, is prescribed for the pilgrim. As for those who are not performing the Hajj, the takbeer[aat] is prescribed for them to recite from the morning on the Day of ʿArafah following the performance of their obligatory prayers until the mid-afternoon prayer (ʿAsr) on the last of the days of Tashreeq [i.e., the 13th of DhulHijjah]. From the benefits that we can conclude from this hadeeth is that the initiation of the takbeer on the day of ʿArafah is permissible - even if the person who is uttering it was in the state of ihram [i.e., the state of ritual sanctity that one enters into for the Hajj] and intending to stay in ʿArafah, although the prescribed words to utter for the one in a state of ihram is the talbiyah. This shows that the range of the matter with reference to the performance of dhikr on the Day of ʿArafah is open. .