"And when he settled on his mount, he said: Labbaik Allahumma Labbaik"

The Shaykh : Then the author (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "And when he settled on his mount, he said: Labbaik Allahumma Labbaik, Labbaik, there is no partner for You, Labbaik. Indeed, the praise and the blessing are Yours, and the dominion, there is no partner for You." When he settled on his mount, "settled on it" means he ascended and became stable; he rode in a complete manner. He said, "Labbaik Allahumma Labbaik," meaning he recites the talbiyah when he settles on his mount. Even though earlier he said, "entering ihram after two rak'ahs", is there a contradiction in his words? We say, no, there is no contradiction in the author's words. He intends to enter the rites of pilgrimage after praying, but he does not recite the talbiyah until he settles on his mount. So, is there a contradiction or not?

The questioner : No.

The Shaykh : What is the reconciliation? It is that after the prayer, he intends the ihram, intending to enter the rites of pilgrimage. As for the talbiyah, when he settles on his mount, he says, "Labbaik." Now, do we have mounts today?
The attendees: ...

The Shaykh : Now, are cars mounts?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Yes, they are mounts. So, when one gets into the car, do we need to tell the driver to start it, or is it fine if he does not start it?

The questioner : It is fine if he does not start it.

The Shaykh : It is fine if he does not start it. Now, the evidence for this is that Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) mentioned that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when he settled on his mount, said, "Labbaik." This is one of three opinions on the issue.
The second opinion, which is the madhhab, is that one recites the talbiyah after the prayer, meaning when he intends to enter the rites of pilgrimage, he says, "Labbaik."
The third opinion on the issue is: when he ascends to al-Bayda', and al-Bayda' is a small mountain there at Dhul-Hulaifah, he says, "Labbaik," meaning he recites the talbiyah when he ascends to the first elevation that occurs after settling on the mount and traveling. So, the opinions are three. This is also supported by the Sunnah. The last one is the hadith of Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him): "Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) mounted his mount, and when his mount settled on al-Bayda', he declared his intention for the oneness of Allah: Labbaik Allahumma Labbaik." The hadith of Ibn 'Umar is in the two Sahihs, and the hadith of Jabir is in Muslim, and both are authentic. Is there a contradiction between them?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : No, there is no contradiction between them, because it is understood that Jabir did not hear the talbiyah except when the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) mount settled on al-Bayda', and one does not transmit what one did not hear. Ibn 'Umar heard him reciting the talbiyah when? When he settled on his mount. So each of them transmitted what he heard. We are left with what al-Nasa'i narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) It is said that "after the prayer" refers to whatever came after it. When he settled on his mount, that is after the prayer. And even when his mount ascended to al-Bayda', that is after the prayer. So there is no contradiction. However, the people of the Sunan narrated from 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father), with a chain that has some issues, that he reconciled the different narrations and said: "The people each transmitted what they heard. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) recited the talbiyah after the prayer, so some people heard it and said, 'He declared his intention after the prayer.' He recited it when he mounted, so some people heard it and said, 'He recited it when he mounted.' And some people heard it when his mount settled on al-Bayda' while he was reciting, so they said, 'He recited it when his mount settled on al-Bayda'." If it were not for what was said about its chain, the meaning of this hadith would be apparent, because it reconciles the narrations. But we have tried and found that it is better not to recite the talbiyah until one mounts. Why? Because sometimes a person realizes he has forgotten something, like perfume or the like, and he realizes it when he is about to mount. If we say, "Enter ihram after the prayer," yes, he would not be able to use the perfume after entering ihram. But if we say, "Do not recite the talbiyah, which is the ihram, until after mounting," that provides a margin. We have tried this and said, "I wish we had adopted the hadith of Ibn 'Umar, that we do not recite the talbiyah until we mount, because we forget things that we cannot use."