When I recite in salah I do not understand the Arabic, so it feels like empty sounds. Can a prayer reach Allah when I do not grasp the words I am saying?
Your prayer reaches Allah. Let that be settled first, before anything else. He is the One who taught the tongue to speak, and He hears the language of longing before the language of grammar. A small child who cannot yet form a full sentence is still perfectly understood by a loving parent; how much more so the Lord who fashioned you and placed that yearning in your chest.
But I will not leave you with comfort alone, because Allah Himself invites you toward something greater than comfort. He calls us to move from sound toward meaning:
“Then do they not reflect upon the Qur’an, or are there locks upon their hearts?”
Qur’an, Muhammad 47:24 · meaning
This is not a rebuke aimed at you; it is an open door. The words were sent down to be pondered, and the heart that begins to reflect on even a little of their meaning feels the locks quietly turning open. You noticed the emptiness of unmeaning sound precisely because your soul was made to taste the meaning. That hunger is a sign of health, not of failure.
He tells us plainly why the Book was sent down at all:
“A blessed Book We have sent down to you, that they may reflect upon its verses and that those of understanding would be reminded.”
Qur’an, Sad 38:29 · meaning
Notice the order. The Book is called blessed first, and reflection comes after. The blessing is already in the words, and it reaches you from the first moment of recitation; understanding the meaning adds a further light to that blessing. So the path is clear and it is within your reach. Learn the meaning of the Fatiha, which you already recite in every unit, and then the meanings of a few short surahs you love. The hour you know Whom you are addressing and what you are asking, the sounds stop being empty and become a living conversation; your standing becomes an audience with your Lord in which you understand your own words as you speak them.
And if, alongside this, your tongue is still finding its way through the letters, if the Fatiha or a short surah still comes slowly and with effort, then hear this word of the Prophet, which was spoken for exactly that struggle:
“The one who recites the Qur’an skilfully is with the noble, righteous scribes, and the one who recites it haltingly, struggling with it, has a double reward.”
The Prophet (peace be upon him), Sahih al-Bukhari (4937) · meaning
Notice whom he is describing: the tongue that stumbles over the letters, the reader whose reading still comes slowly. He did not place such a one beneath the fluent; he doubled his reward. Now draw the conclusion yourself. If that is how Allah treasures the labour of a slow tongue, how could He turn away from the labour of a heart that aches to understand? So walk this path without guilt. The prayer of your unlettered tongue already reaches Him and is already treasured, and every small meaning you learn turns that same accepted prayer into a sweeter and more knowing conversation.
One small step: This week, learn the meaning of just the first line you recite, the opening of Surah al-Fatiha, so that the next time you say it, your heart knows what your tongue is offering.