The conclusive, certain ruling is that none of those utterances is recommended; for the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—never legislated any of that for the Muslims (1), nor did he, or any of his Companions, pronounce any wording of intention before the opening takbīr (2).

Rather, when he instructed Dubāʿah bint al-Zubayr to make an exception-clause, she asked, “How should I say it?” He replied, “Say: ‘Labbayka Allahumma labbayk, maḥillī mina l-arḍi ḥaythu taḥbisunī’ (Here I am, O Allah, here I am; my place of release is wherever You hold me).” This was reported by the compilers of the Sunan (3), and al-Tirmidhī declared it authentic.

Al-Nasāʾī’s version reads: “I intend to perform ḥajj, so how should I say it?” He said, “Say: ‘Labbayka Allahumma labbayk, maḥillī mina l-arḍi ḥaythu taḥbisunī, fa-inna laki (4) ʿalā rabbiki mā istathnayti’ (for you have with your Lord whatever exemption you have stipulated).” The hadith on making an exception-clause (5) is also found in the two Ṣaḥīḥs (6).

The upshot of this wording is that he ordered her to incorporate the stipulation within the talbiyah itself (7); he did not instruct her (8) to say anything before the talbiyah—neither that stipulation nor anything else.