My second question deals with the tashhahud in the middle of the prayer, should we send the salaah and salaam upon the Prophet(salAllaahu alayhi wassalam) in it, deeming it a recommended act or is better to stop at Ashhaduaanna muhammaadan abduhu wa rasuluh?
BaarakAllaahu feek ya ikhwaan
regarding the second question:
from Shaykh al-Albaanee's Sifah Salaat inNabee (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam),
page 70:
quote:
"He sallallahu alayhi wa sallam used to send prayers on himself in
the first tashahhud as well as the other" - Abu 'Awaanah in his Saheeh
(2/324) and Nasaa'i
Regarding the first question
In this article found in triod
http://www.troid.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1023&Itemid=356
Which is an excerpt from the book, "A Description of the Regular Sunnah Prayers - A Way of Building Your Home in Paradise", translated by Hassan Somali and available at the TROIDStore
Shaykh Muhammad 'Umar Bazmool (Hafidhahuallah) comes to the point that sunnah prayer done before Salaatul-'Asr is to be done in four continuous units, without giving tasleem between the two and this is how he mentioned it
quote:
Based upon this, the supererogatory Sunnah Prayer of Asr is an exception to the general hadeeth, "The Prayers offered during the day and the night are to be observed in pairs".
As for the source of the above mentioned hadeeth insha Allah hope that it can be found in the above mentioned book at TRIODStore.
So in generality all sunnah prayers except the sunnah before Asr is to be prayed in pairs and Allah A3lam.