it is not permissible to pray in a mosque except directly on the ground. When ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn Mahdī arrived from Iraq and spread out a rug in the mosque, Mālik ibn Anas ordered him imprisoned as a disciplinary punishment. When asked to reconsider the matter, he explained that doing this in such a mosque was a religious innovation whose perpetrator should be disciplined. People must denounce this practice and prevent it, especially those authorities responsible for the mosque: they are duty-bound to remove these prayer rugs. If their owners were punished by having the rugs given away in charity, that would be permissible as a matter of scholarly judgment. End quote.

He—may Allah have mercy on him—was also asked:

Concerning the muezzin’s saying on Friday, when the imam enters the mosque:

“O Allah, bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, and grant them peace. May Allah be pleased with all the Companions of the Messenger of Allah.”

And concerning the imam’s supplication after ascending the pulpit, and the muezzin’s saying after the second call to prayer:

“Abū Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: ‘If you say to your companion, “Be quiet,” while the imam is delivering the sermon on Friday, you have engaged in idle speech.’”

Are these practices prescribed by the Sunnah, recommended, or disliked in the Friday prayer?