Is My Salah Changing Me?

What does it really mean to establish salah, not just perform it?

In this next episode of Journey through the Quran (Season 2), Shaykh Riad Saloojee reflects on the ayah: “Recite what has been revealed to you of the Book and establish the prayer. Indeed, the prayer restrains from shamelessness and wrongdoing. And the remembrance of Allah is greater. And Allah knows what you do.” (Surah al-‘Ankabut, 29:45)

We explore:
• The difference between doing salah and iqamah of salah
• How khushu‘ (reverent awareness) is the soul of prayer
• Why a salah without inner struggle can become a “lifeless body”
• How true salah restrains us from fahsha’ (obscenity) and munkar (wrong)
• Salah as the mi‘raj of the believer: an ascension of the heart and character
• The secret of sidq (truthfulness) in transforming our prayer and our lives

Filmed in a beautiful masjid of Uskudar, Istanbul, this lesson reminds us that no matter how majestic the architecture around us is, the most important “structure” is the inner architecture of the heart standing before Allah.
May our salah become alive — anchored, constant, full of khushu‘ — and a means to purify our character and draw closer to Allah.

Chapters

0:00 – Opening
0:40 – Connecting to previous lessons: divine bounty and love of Allah
2:23 – Main ayah: “Utlu ma oohiya ilayka… wa aqimi-salah”
4:07 – Reciting Qur’an as ‘ilm: knowing Allah, His signs and limits
5:56 – From learning the Qur’an to drawing nearer through salah
7:13 – Salah as emotional response to the message of the Qur’an
8:21 – What “aqim as-salah” really means: to root, anchor, and make constant
9:51 – External and internal dimensions of establishing salah
11:22 – “Qad aflaha al-mu’minun…” Success tied to how we pray
12:51 – “They are in their salah” – being fully present before Allah
13:27 – Defining khushu‘: reverent awe and awareness
15:28 – Is my salah alive or a lifeless body? When prayer curses its doer
18:22 – “Inna-s-salata tanha ‘ani-l-fahsha’i wal-munkar”, the real effects of salah
19:56 – If salah isn’t changing me, what is missing?
20:28 – Fahsha’ and munkar as inner akhlaq and character flaws
22:07 – Salah as mi‘raj of the believer: ascending with our values
24:59 – The transformative power of salah for individuals and society
26:31 – “Wa dhikrullahi akbar” – multiple meanings of the remembrance of Allah
30:35 – Truthfulness vs. lying in salah: am I really striving?
35:41 – Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani on sidq speeding the spiritual journey
37:48 – Istanbul’s masajid as a mirror for the heart’s inner architecture
40:21 – Two rak‘ahs more beautiful than the most majestic masjid
41:26 – Du‘a: hearts ornamented by Allah’s names and attributes
42:11 – Transition to the practical “amali” portion: wird of Qur’an & evening adhkar
42:53 – Don’t be a spectator of khayr – participate in Qur’an and adhkar
43:10 – Closing thanks and salam