Is it from the Sunnah to conclude the Friday sermon with supplication?

The questioner : Now, by that, I mean in all its forms...?

The Shaykh : In all its forms. Regarding supplication, we have said repeatedly and again and again that the Friday sermon was legislated for the remembrance of Allah and reminding people, not for supplication. In my view, there is no difference between a preacher who makes supplication in the Friday sermon, which is well-known and common, and what is not well-known but may become well-known between this preacher and another. Instead of making supplication in the second part of the sermon, he should remember Allah, send blessings upon His Messenger, glorify Him, praise Him, and so on, making it a sermon of what? A sermon of remembrance. The Friday sermon was not legislated for this purpose. That is, it is not for reminding you of Allah the Exalted. It is this preacher who preaches to you. Making supplication a fixed part of the sermon is like making any of the known sets of dhikr, whether outside or inside the prayer, a fixed part. And I have said repeatedly that supplication is only prescribed for an incidental matter.
As it came in Sahih al-Bukhari from the hadith of Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him): — meaning a Friday, a full week, — — meaning the rain fell around the city —, and nothing affected the city. So this was for an incidental matter. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) made supplication, then he made brief supplications, meaning: Yes.

The questioner : It seems like a supplication for a specific calamity?

The Shaykh : It is similar to that. You will hear from some scholars regarding the prayer for rain. There is disagreement among scholars about its prescription. Some imams deny its prescription and say that in seeking rain, there is only supplication, and they cite this hadith as evidence. And indeed, this hadith is about seeking rain, meaning asking for rain. As for the scholars who do not cling to an opinion but follow what came from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), they say that seeking rain can be done through prayer and through supplication without prayer, because all of this is established from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). The point of the aforementioned hadith of Anas is that it is evidence that it is prescribed for the preacher on Friday to make supplication for an incidental matter. As for making it a fixed part and considering it a component of the Friday sermon, this is undoubtedly from the innovations of matters. And it is regrettable that supplication for kings is not a new matter, as some people might imagine; it is very old, from centuries ago. Because the custom of kings, as Allah the Exalted said: This is the nature of kings, except for a few of them, a very few who fear Allah and adhere to the Shari'ah of Allah. So, supplication on the minbars for kings is an old innovation. We have been preceded, and praise be to Allah, by those who explicitly stated its innovated nature, so we have predecessors in our statement regarding its innovated nature, and praise be to Allah. And therefore, we are Salafis, and we are not like the Salafis.