# The Divine Dialogue of Al-Fatihah | Episode 4 | Secrets of Salah | The Hidden Gems of Prayer

**Author:** Dr. Omar Suleiman
**Series:** Secrets of Salah | Dhul Hijjah 2025
**Published:** 2025-05-31
**YouTube:** https://youtu.be/qjWnf49JJ8w
**URL:** https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/secrets-of-salah-dhul-hijjah-2025/the-divine-dialogue-of-al-fatihah-episode-4-secrets-of-salah-the-hidden-gems-of-prayer
**Topics:** Faith

## Description
You bow. You rise. You whisper words you’ve said a thousand times. But what if every motion of salah held its own key to khushoo’? In this series, go deeper into the language, the postures, and the presence of salah. Join Dr. Omar Suleiman to spend the 10 days of Dhul Hijjah exploring the most...

## Transcript
**[0:00]** I praise Allah, if not for a blessing provided, for a harm that He averted from me. You don't know what harm it was. I'm praising Allah for the ability to praise Him in the first place. If the only thing to say Alhamdulillah for was the ability to say Alhamdulillah, that in and of itself is enough of making it worth it to praise Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala for.

**[0:31]** One of the names of Surat Al-Fatiha is actually Surat As-Salah. It is actually called The Prayer. And we'll talk about a narration why the ulama call it that, because Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala has referred to it as As-Salah. And that is to say that there is no salah without Al-Fatiha.

**[0:48]** But I want you to imagine if you were there with the Prophet (ﷺ) when he received As-Salah. The same way that he received As-Salah as in The Prayer and Al-Isra' Al-Mi'raj on the Night Ascension and we put ourselves in the position because Salah is Mi'raj Al-Mu'min.

**[1:03]** It's the ascension of the believer. As if we were with the Prophet (ﷺ) when he ascended to the highest place and received that message from Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. Likewise, imagine you're with the Prophet (ﷺ) and Abdullah ibn Abbas (رضي الله عنهما),

**[1:18]** he says that when Jibreel (عليه السلام) was with the Prophet (ﷺ) one day, he heard a sound from above like a door opening. And he looked up and he said, Hadha baab qad futiha min as-samaa. This is a door that has opened from the heavens

**[1:35]** and it has never been opened before. And he said that an angel came down from it and came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said, receive the glad tidings of two lights that have been given to you and have never been given to anyone before.

**[1:50]** And that was Al-Fatiha and the last two verses of Surah Al-Baqarah. These ayat came to the Prophet (ﷺ) from Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala and you will never recite a single letter of them except that you will be granted what you are asking.

**[2:05]** SubhanAllah, if you imagine that there's no equivalent of Al-Fatiha in any scripture before, that no prophet was given a gift, no Ummah was given what we were given through Surah Al-Fatiha. You enter into your salah and the conversation with the King of Kings begins.

**[2:22]** Now the Quran is a monologue. Allah speaks directly to us. And what we learn from that process of the Quran being a monologue is two things. Imam Al-Ghazali (رحمه الله) said that the division

**[2:37]** of how the ranks of the believers are in regards to their conversation with Allah is that there are those who can anticipate and connect with the Quran as revealed to the Prophet (ﷺ). And then there are those who interact with the Quran as if it was revealed to them.

**[2:53]** And then the third, which is the highest, are those that put themselves in the position as if Allah is speaking to them directly, meaning as if they're feeling it, they're sensing that conversation with Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. But the Quran is a monologue. Du'a is a dialogue, right?

**[3:09]** Du'a is two ways. Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala speaks to us and we speak to Him. And Al-Du'a Huwa Al-'Ibadah as the Prophet (ﷺ) said, supplication is worship. And when it comes to Surah Al-Fatiha, Surah Al-Fatiha is a dialogue with Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala.

**[3:26]** And it's a beautiful dialogue. Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala says in the Hadith Qudsi, Qasamtu as-salata bayni wa bayna abdi nisfain I have divided this prayer between me and my slave into two halves. So as-salah here is referring to Al-Fatiha.

**[3:43]** And here's what I want you to visually capture, which is absolutely incredible. If you were to look at Surah Al-Fatiha, the first half of Surah Al-Fatiha up until Ihdina As-Sirata Al-Mustaqim that is the part that is praising Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala.

**[3:59]** The second half is the du'a, is the ask from Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. If you look at it visually, it's exactly half the page. So it is two halves that Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala has mentioned. And this is an important distinction to make. There is a hadith where Mu'adh (رضي الله عنه)

**[4:16]** was with the Prophet (ﷺ) and he says, Ya Mu'adh Ibn Jabal. He calls him out three times, Oh Mu'adh, Oh Mu'adh. And Mu'adh says, Labbayk Ya Rasulullah, here I am O messenger of Allah, here I am. And he says, do you know what the right of Allah upon His servants is? What is it Ya Rasulullah?

**[4:32]** That they worship Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala without attributing any partners to Him. And in the rest of the hadith, the Prophet (ﷺ) says to paraphrase, and do you know what the right of the servant is upon Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala? That Allah will not punish them.

**[4:47]** That should they abide, Allah will not punish them. And so our entire relationship is what Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala gives us in return for our worship to Him, even though He created us and gave us the ability to worship Him, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala.

**[5:02]** And so you start this dialogue. Allah Azza wa Jal says, Itha qaalil abdu alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen When my servant says, alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.

**[5:17]** Allah says, hamadani habdi My servant has praised me. Who is Allah talking to? Remember when Allah prays upon us, He's talking to the angels. So imagine Allah talking to those that are with Him and saying, my servant over there, my servant praised me. And alhamd in this regard

**[5:34]** is such a beautiful way to approach Allah because hamd is a comprehensive way to praise Allah. It includes within it, al-thana wa shukr which is praising Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala as He deserves to be praised, but also gratitude.

**[5:49]** So it actually includes both of those things. So it's a perfect way to praise Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala and alhamd, al, if you notice al, it's the definite article. So that means all of the praise is due to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala.

**[6:05]** And so think about the coherence in the salah. alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen, hamadani abdi. sami'allahu liman hamida, wabana walaikal hamd. It's a conversation of hamd. I praise Allah, Allah acknowledges that praise and Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala lets the angels know of that praise.

**[6:23]** Now, what is the hamd for? Because you want to visualize to be able to appreciate your salah. You're praising Allah for who He is, even though He doesn't need your praise. So who He is, you're praising Allah for what He guided you to, because the most precious blessing that He ever gave you was guidance,

**[6:40]** even more so than your existence. You're praising Allah for what He gave you, other than guidance of the blessings. And you're praising Allah for what He saved you from. So connect to these four things. Imam al-Uzair (رحمه الله) said, I heard someone say, I praise Allah, if not for a blessing provided,

**[6:57]** for a harm that He averted from me. You don't know what harm it was, but I'm praising Allah for the obvious blessing and for the harm I never saw coming. I'm praising Allah for the ability to praise Him in the first place. If the only thing to say alhamdulillah for, was the ability to say alhamdulillah,

**[7:12]** that in and of itself is enough of making it worth it to praise Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. Four, I praise Allah for what I see of His names and His attributes and for what I can't perceive. I praise Allah for the visible and the invisible aspects of guidance.

**[7:28]** I praise Allah for the visible and the invisible blessings. There are so many blessings you never even see. And I praise Allah for the obvious tests He saved me from and the ones that I never knew that He averted me from. And so alhamdulillah, Rabb al-Alamin, starts with hamd.

**[7:44]** And here you have lillah, which is Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala and particularly Rabb al-Alamin, the Lord of all the worlds. Rabb has a loving connotation to it. The Lord of the worlds is representative of the fact

**[8:00]** that Allah Azza wa Jal sustains and cares for on top of ruling. He's not an absent authority, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. He's not a God who created and then abandoned. He is a Rabb that controls all things that is constantly maintaining and constantly sustaining.

**[8:18]** And amongst those things, He is the Rabb of all of my affairs. So why would I think that I need to be busied with the small things of my affairs when I'm in conversation with the One who manages all of my affairs, that which I have left and that which I'm going to.

**[8:33]** Allah is the Rabb of all of my affairs. So I trust Him, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, when I'm in conversation with Him, that Allah has taken care of it. You know, an example of this is, you know, let's say that you had an assignment that is due to your employer, right? And to Allah belongs the highest example.

**[8:48]** And your employer says, let's go out to lunch. I want to talk to you and enjoy some time with you. You're not thinking, oh, I need to get back to this assignment. That's due to my employer because the employer clearly understands. He's the one that took me out. He's the one that engaged me in conversation. And that's a sign of closeness and access to him.

**[9:06]** So in the case of Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, I'm pleased with Allah as the Lord of all of my affairs. And so I will not be busied with my affairs over my Lord. Rabb al-Alamin. He is the Lord of multiple layers of existence

**[9:22]** in time and in space. If you recall the barzakh, a completely, you know, entirely separate existence from us that exists of those that have passed away. And there's all of the ghaib that we don't see, the unseen that we don't see. Allah Azza wa Jal manages all of those things.

**[9:38]** He owns all of those things. He maintains all of those things. And of the beauty of this is that He's praising you in a realm that you can't perceive, but you know exists. And that is with the realm of the angels. He's praising you with the angels in one of the other realms

**[9:56]** that you are not able to access in the moment in terms of perception, but you know that it exists and you praise Him as He deserves to be praised always knowing that you will never praise Him enough and that you should praise Him for the ability to praise Him. Alhamdulillah rabb al-alamin.

**[10:12]** And Allah says, Hamadni Hamdi. My servant, just praise Him. Praise Him. And then you say, Ar-Rahman Ar-Rahim. You praise Him for His all encompassing mercy and you praise Him for His exclusive mercy,

**[10:28]** which you seek as a constant. You see, Ar-Rahman, His mercy encompasses all things. Everyone benefits from Ar-Rahman. Every form of Rahman, every form of mercy that exists exists as an extension of what Ar-Rahman bestows.

**[10:45]** But as for Ar-Rahim, there is a consistent mercy. Wa kaana bil mu'mineena raheema. Allah is especially merciful to the believers. As Ibn Abbas (رضي الله عنه) said, Rahman in this dunya, Rahim in the akhirah, that there is a special type of mercy

**[11:01]** that you seek from Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. So you praise Him, Ar-Rahman, Ar-Rahim. And Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala says, Athna AAalayya AAabdi. You see my angels, my servant has extolled my praise. Now it sounds very similar in the English language,

**[11:17]** but thana means layers. It means to put layers of something, right? So my servant took the praise that he already gave me and he put praise on top of that praise. Athna AAalayya AAabdi. So my servant beautified his praise

**[11:34]** with an extra layer of praise. And by the way, this is also indicative of the adhkar that we make in the salah. You could say, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala in your ruku' and that's enough, but you beautify it by saying, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, Wa Bi-Hamdihi.

**[11:50]** You could say, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, and that's enough. But when you add, Wa Bi-Hamdihi, and with His praise, it always makes it even more blessed. The Prophet (ﷺ) mentioned the completeness. So, you added onto that praise.

**[12:06]** And you think about when you will need Allah's mercy most, even though you always need it. And you think about the Day of Judgment. And what's the next verse? Maliki Yawm Al-Din. Master of the Day of Judgment.

**[12:22]** And Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, you move as the scholars say from praising Allah for His jamal to praising Allah for His jalal, from praising Allah for His beauty, to praising Allah for His majesty, for His authority. There is a fear that exists, a trepidation when the believer thinks about Yawm Al-Din,

**[12:39]** thinks about the Day of Judgment, resurrection, retribution, debt, right? And it shows you that when the believer asks, the believer is thinking about the Day of Judgment much more than they're thinking about the matters of this world. Maliki Yawm Al-Din. Maliki Yawm Al-Din refers to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala as the sole authority, the purveyor

**[12:58]** of justice, the one who will judge. And so I come to you, O Allah, not just for mercy in my worldly affairs, but more importantly for mercy on the Day of Judgment. And this is connected by the way to the initial hamd, to the initial praise.

**[13:13]** Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala says, Wa Quldu Ya Baynahum Bil-Haq Wa Qeela Al-Hamdu Lillahi Rabbil Alamin That when the judgment takes place and it's all said and done and the gavel drops, then it is said, Al-Hamdu Lillahi Rabbil Alamin. When we think about people who have been dealt with with injustice, there's hamd on the Day

**[13:33]** of Judgment when they see that on Yawm Al-Din, Allah did not forget the debt that was owed to them, the injustice that was committed against them. We think about that, especially with our brothers and sisters in Gaza, that think about the hamd, the relief that you feel when the injustice that bothered you, you see that Allah Subhanahu

**[13:53]** wa Ta'ala did not let it go. Right? So you go from praising Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala for His encompassing mercy, and then specifically His authority. And this is the difference now between Athna AAalayya AAabdi and what Allah says after

**[14:10]** you say Maliki Yawm Al-Din. Allah says after you say Maliki Yawm Al-Din, Majadani AAabdi, Majadani AAabdi, which would mean my servant has glorified me. The difference between Athna and Tamjid, Athna is all encompassing praise.

**[14:26]** Tamjid is glorifying Allah for specific notions of kingship and authority. Okay, so it's a very specific type of praise. And by acknowledging Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala's unique authority, you're acknowledging your state of servitude, that you are a AAabd in complete need of His mercy and accountable

**[14:47]** to His judgment Subhanahu wa Ta'ala.

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