the Sahīh, where ʿĀ’isha, may Allah be pleased with her, said:

“The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would begin the prayer with the takbīr and begin his recitation with ‘Praise be to Allah, Lord of all worlds.’”

He did not verbalize an intention or anything else before the takbīr, nor did he teach any Muslim to do so. Had this been recommended, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would have done it, and the Muslims would have known about it. Likewise, in Hajj, he would begin ihrām (pilgrimage consecration) with the talbiya (pilgrimage invocation), and he prescribed that Muslims recite the talbiya at the beginning of Hajj. He, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to Dubāʿa bint al-Zubayr:

“Perform Hajj and stipulate a condition, saying: ‘Here I am, O Allah, here I am; I shall leave ihrām wherever You prevent me from proceeding.’”

Thus, he instructed her to stipulate her condition after the talbiya. He did not prescribe that anyone say anything before the talbiya. One should not say, “O Allah, I intend to perform ʿumra and Hajj,” or “Hajj and ʿumra.” Nor should one say, “So make it easy for me and accept it from me,” “I have intended both together,” “I have entered ihrām for Allah,” or anything else of this kind in any act of worship. One says nothing before the talbiya; rather, he made the talbiya in Hajj equivalent to the takbīr in prayer.

He and his Companions would say, “So-and-so pronounced the talbiya for Hajj,” “He pronounced it for ʿumra,” or “He pronounced it for both together,” just as one says, “He pronounced the takbīr for prayer.” Ihlāl means raising one’s voice with the talbiya. In his talbiya, he would say:

“Here I am for Hajj and ʿumra,”

intending what he wished to