Is laying carpets in mosques a religious innovation?

The questioner : ...mosques, is it a religious innovation or a necessity?

The Shaykh : What?

The questioner : Laying carpets in mosques?

The Shaykh : Laying carpets in mosques; laying carpets in mosques varies from region to region. If the carpeting is for the sake of adornment, then it is not permissible, just as any adornment brought into the mosque is not permissible. This is because it is established in many hadiths that mosques are not to be decorated. Among them is the hadith that is established with us and which we cited in *Sahih al-Jami' al-Saghir*: . And among them is his saying (peace be upon him): ; meaning: whitewashing them and beautifying them. And Ibn Abbas said, after narrating this hadith from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): . Based on that, when 'Umar ibn al-Khattab expanded the Prophet's Mosque, he said to the builder: "Shelter the people from the heat and the cold, but do not make it red or yellow." So, if the carpeting of the mosque falls under the category of adornment, it is not permissible. But if it falls under the category of clothing and covering for the praying people to ward off the cold or the heat, then there is no harm in that.