Du'a & the Arafah Builder · Hajj Collective

There is no requirement to memorize a different scripted du’a for every circuit of Tawaf. Learn the authentic adhkar of the rites with your teacher, then speak to Allah in whatever language your heart actually thinks in.

Two open hands raised in du‘a, a string of prayer beads wound around one wrist, the green and red of a mosque carpet blurred behind them.

The Talbiyah

لَبَّيْكَ اللَّهُمَّ لَبَّيْكَ
لَبَّيْكَ لَا شَرِيكَ لَكَ لَبَّيْكَ
إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ وَالنِّعْمَةَ لَكَ وَالْمُلْكَ
لَا شَرِيكَ لَكَ

Labbayka 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. Surely all praise, blessings and sovereignty belong to You. You have no partner.

Learn it by heart before you fly. You are about to say it a great deal.

Two you will return to constantly

رَبَّنَا آتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ

Rabbana atina fid-dunya hasanatan wa fil-akhirati hasanatan wa qina ’adhaban-nar.

Our Lord, give us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and protect us from the punishment of the Fire. (al-Baqarah 2:201)

رَبَّنَا ظَلَمْنَا أَنفُسَنَا وَإِن لَّمْ تَغْفِرْ لَنَا وَتَرْحَمْنَا لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ

Rabbana zalamna anfusana wa illam taghfir lana wa tarhamna lanakunanna minal-khasireen.

Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves. If You do not forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will surely be among the losers. (al-A’raf 7:23)

The adhkar of the rites, in order

What follows is the short list of remembrances tied to specific moments of the rites, with where each is reported. It is deliberately not long: most moments of Hajj have no fixed wording at all. That is deliberate: you are meant to use your own words, in your own language. Confirm the practice of each with your teacher.

In line with the Black Stone, at each circuit — face or gesture toward the Stone and say Allahu akbar, as the Prophet ﷺ did when passing it (reported in al-Bukhari). No circuit has a scripted du’a of its own.

Between the Yamani corner and the Black Stone — this is where the Prophet ﷺ is reported to have said Rabbana atina fid-dunya hasanah… (Abu Dawud), written out above. The rest of each circuit is yours.

On Safa, and again on Marwah — from the hadith of Jabir in Sahih Muslim: face the qiblah and say, three times, with du’a of your own between:

لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له، له الملك وله الحمد وهو على كل شيء قدير، لا إله إلا الله وحده، أنجز وعده، ونصر عبده، وهزم الأحزاب وحده

La ilaha illallahu wahdahu la sharika lah, lahul-mulku wa lahul-hamdu wa huwa ’ala kulli shay’in qadir. La ilaha illallahu wahdah, anjaza wa’dah, wa nasara ’abdah, wa hazamal-ahzaba wahdah.

There is no god but Allah alone, without partner. His is the dominion and His is the praise, and He has power over all things. There is no god but Allah alone: He fulfilled His promise, gave victory to His servant, and defeated the confederates alone.

The day of Arafah — the Prophet ﷺ said: the best du’a is the du’a of the day of Arafah, and the best of what I and the prophets before me have said is (reported in at-Tirmidhi):

لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له، له الملك وله الحمد وهو على كل شيء قدير

La ilaha illallahu wahdahu la sharika lah, lahul-mulku wa lahul-hamdu wa huwa ’ala kulli shay’in qadir.

There is no god but Allah alone, without partner. His is the dominion and His is the praise, and He has power over all things.

Keep returning to this through the afternoon, and spend the hours on your own list. There is no other fixed wording for the standing at Arafah, and that is deliberate.

At al-Mash’ar al-Haram, after Fajr at Muzdalifah — the Qur’an itself sets this moment: “remember Allah at the Mash’ar al-Haram” (2:198). Takbir, tahlil, and du’a facing the qiblah until the sky brightens, per the hadith of Jabir. No fixed wording is prescribed.

At the Jamarat — Allahu akbar with each pebble, all seven, every pillar. On the days of Tashriq, after the first and the middle Jamrah, the Sunnah is to step aside, face the qiblah, and make long du’a of your own (reported in al-Bukhari); after the last, none is reported — you move on.

Zamzam — drink and ask for what you need. Scholars differ on the strength of the well-known report that Zamzam water serves whatever purpose it is drunk for. What is certain is that no du’a is prescribed here and none is ruled out, so ask for whatever you need.

Prepare for Arafah before you leave home

Day

The one to prepare for above all others

If there is a single day to prepare for before leaving home, it is this one.

Here is what happens to people who do not: they arrive at Arafah, stand in the most concentrated hours of du’a of their lives, and find their mind blank. It is not that they do not want anything. Wanting something and being able to put it into words in that moment are different skills.

The people who arrive with a written list do not have that problem. They open a piece of paper and work through it, and by the time they reach the end the words are coming on their own.

What to write down

Give yourself months, not a morning. Come back to it. Add to it when something occurs to you.

You. What do you want Allah to change in you? What are you afraid of in yourself? What do you want to be true about you one year from now?
Your parents. What do you want given to them? What do you fear for them? What do you wish you could give them yourself?
Your spouse, or your marriage. What do you want it to become? What needs healing? If you are hoping to marry — what are you asking for?
Your children, including those you hope to have. Their deen, their character, their futures. And what you fear for them.
Your deen. Where do you want consistency — salah, Qur’an, knowledge? What sin are you asking to be freed from for good?
Health. Your body, your mind, and those you love who are ill. Name them.
Rizq and work. What provision, what barakah in what you already have, and what decision needs guidance.
Forgiveness. What do you most need forgiven? Who do you need to forgive, and whose forgiveness do you need?
Your akhirah. Jannah. Protection from the Fire. A good ending. The company of the Prophet ﷺ. In your own words.
Your community. Your masjid, your teachers, your friends, your neighbors.
The ummah. The suffering, the oppressed, the displaced, those struggling privately — and those who have nobody remembering them by name.
People who asked you. Write their names down now. You will not remember everyone on Arafah, and it will bother you.

Interactive toolArafah Du'a BuilderWrite down what you want to ask for, months before you stand there, and take it with you on paper.

One suggestion

Once it is printed, put it in your Mashair bag, and leave space at the bottom.

Arafah has a way of reminding you of things no builder can.