Transmitted by al-Aʿmash from Abū Ṣāliḥ from him. The alternative wording and the additional clauses are those recorded by Aḥmad. It also forms part of a longer report found in Muslim and Ibn Mājah, and al-Munḏhirī attributed the complete version to Abū Dāwūd, al-Tirmidhī, al-Nasāʾī, Ibn Mājah in his Ṣaḥīḥ, and al-Ḥākim, who ruled it “sound according to their criteria.”

Al-Nawawī says in his commentary on Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim:
“It has been suggested that the sakīnah (divine tranquility) mentioned here means raḥmah (mercy); this was the view chosen by Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ, but it is weak, for mercy is cited alongside it. A second explanation is that it signifies ṭumaʾnīnah and waqār (serenity and dignity), and this is stronger. The ḥadith is proof of the merit of gathering in the mosque to recite the Qur’an—a ruling held by us and by the majority—whereas Mālik regarded it as disliked, and some of his followers have interpreted his position.”

I say: The interpretation likely meant is that what Mālik objected to was any gathering that deviates from the Prophet’s ﷺ practice in this regard, such as assembling to recite in a single, collective voice. That is an innovation not transmitted from him ﷺ nor from any Companion. At times the Prophet ﷺ would ask someone to recite so that he could listen, as when Ibn Masʿūd recited to him and he said, “I love to hear it from someone other than myself.” ʿUmar likewise ordered someone to recite to him and to those with him while they listened—sometimes instructing Abū Mūsā, at other times ʿUqbah ibn ʿĀmir. Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Rajab relates this in Jāmiʿ al-ʿUlūm wa-l-Ḥikam, and then adds:
“Ḥarb reported that he saw the people of Damascus, Ḥoms, Mecca, and Basra gather to recite the Qur’an after the dawn prayer, but the people of Syria would all recite the Qur’an …”