Bulugh al-Maram

Takhrij:
There is some weakness in its chain of narration.
[ترمذي 2684],
[الادب المفرد للبخاري 282]
The chain is as follows: «عن صدقة بن موسيٰ عن مالك بن دينار عن عبد الله بن غالب عن ابي سعيد» marfu‘an.
Tirmidhi said: This hadith is gharib; we do not know it except from Sadaqah ibn Musa.
Shaykh al-Albani said: “He is weak due to his poor memory.”
Manawi said in Fayd al-Qadir that Dhahabi said: “Sadaqah is weak; Ibn Ma‘in and others have declared him weak.”
And Mundhiri said: He is weak.
And Hafiz said in Taqrib: «صدوق له أوهام» End quote. See: [تحفة الاشراف 478/3]

Benefits:
Although there is some weakness in the chain of this hadith, there are many verses and hadiths regarding the condemnation of miserliness and bad character, and these have been counted among the attributes of the disbelievers. Regarding the condemnation of miserliness, the verses are:
«إِنَّ اللَّـهَ لَا يُحِبُّ مَن كَانَ مُخْتَالًا فَخُورًا ٭ الَّذِينَ يَبْخَلُونَ وَيَأْمُرُونَ النَّاسَ بِالْبُخْلِ وَيَكْتُمُونَ مَا آتَاهُمُ اللَّـهُ مِن فَضْلِهِ وَأَعْتَدْنَا لِلْكَافِرِينَ عَذَابًا مُّهِينًا» [4-النساء:36]
“Indeed, Allah does not love the arrogant, boastful one. Those who are miserly and enjoin miserliness upon others and conceal what Allah has given them of His bounty—and We have prepared for the disbelievers a humiliating punishment.”
And He said:
«أَرَأَيْتَ الَّذِي يُكَذِّبُ بِالدِّينِ ٭ فَذَٰلِكَ الَّذِي يَدُعُّ الْيَتِيمَ ٭ وَلَا يَحُضُّ عَلَىٰ طَعَامِ الْمِسْكِينِ» [107-الماعون:1]
“Have you seen the one who denies the Recompense? For that is the one who drives away the orphan and does not encourage the feeding of the poor.”
And in the description of the people of Hell, in which they mention the reasons for not being among the people of Paradise, it is stated:
« قَالُوا لَمْ نَكُ مِنَ الْمُصَلِّينَ ٭ وَلَمْ نَكُ نُطْعِمُ الْمِسْكِينَ» [74-المدثر:43]
“They will say: We were not of those who prayed, nor did we used to feed the poor.”
And He said:
«وَأَمَّا مَن بَخِلَ وَاسْتَغْنَىٰ ٭ وَكَذَّبَ بِالْحُسْنَىٰ فَسَنُيَسِّرُهُ لِلْعُسْرَىٰ» [82-الإنفطار:8]
“But as for he who withholds and considers himself free of need and denies the best [reward], We will ease him toward difficulty.”
You see, in all these verses, the attribute of miserliness is mentioned in the context of the disbelievers.

The Condemnation of Bad Character:
Such traits that become deeply rooted in one’s nature and become so habitual that they occur automatically without conscious thought are called “khuluq” (character). Especially those habits that pertain to interactions with others. If they are good, they are called “husn al-khuluq” (good character), and if bad, “su’ al-khuluq” (bad character). In Surah al-Qalam, Allah the Exalted said regarding the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam):
«وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَىٰ خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ» [68-القلم:4]
“Indeed, you are of a great character.”
When Umm al-Mu’minin A’ishah (radi Allahu anha) was asked about the character of the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), she replied: «كان خلقه القرآن» “His character was the Qur’an.” [مسند احمد 91/6]
That is, all the attributes and qualities mentioned in the Noble Qur’an had become his habit and nature.
In this surah, Allah the Exalted, after mentioning the evil morals of the disbelievers, said that you should never follow those people of bad character. He said:
«وَلَا تُطِعْ كُلَّ حَلَّافٍ مَّهِينٍ ٭ هَمَّازٍ مَّشَّاءٍ بِنَمِيمٍ ٭ مَّنَّاعٍ لِّلْخَيْرِ مُعْتَدٍ أَثِيمٍ ٭ عُتُلٍّ بَعْدَ ذَٰلِكَ زَنِيمٍ ٭ أَن كَانَ ذَا مَالٍ وَبَنِينَ ٭ إِذَا تُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْهِ آيَاتُنَا قَالَ أَسَاطِيرُ الْأَوَّلِينَ» [68-القلم:10 ]
“And do not obey every worthless habitual swearer, scorner, going about with malicious gossip, preventer of good, transgressing, sinful, cruel, and moreover, base-born—because he is a possessor of wealth and children. When Our verses are recited to him, he says: ‘Legends of the former peoples.’”
The truth is that these evil morals are the portion of the disbelievers; faith never lets a believer fall to such depths.

Takhrij:
«أخرجه الترمذي، البر والصلة، باب ما جاء في البخل، حديث:1962.* صدقة بن موسي ضعيف، ضعفه الجمهور من جهة حفظه.»©Explanation:
The aforementioned narration is weak in its chain of transmission; however, the condemnation and reprehensibility of miserliness and bad character are clear from other evidences.
Therefore, it is also necessary to avoid these vile actions.

Hadith Authentication:
The chain of narration for this report is weak.
There is a difference of opinion among the hadith scholars regarding one of its narrators, Khalaf ibn Ayyub al-‘Amiri, but after the majority’s authentication, he is considered trustworthy (saduq) and at the level of hasan al-hadith (acceptable in hadith).
◄ Hafiz Ibn Hibban, despite authenticating him, declared him a prejudiced Murji’—meaning he was not among Ahl al-Sunnah but rather from the people of innovation (Ahl al-Bid‘ah).
◄ Imam al-Tirmidhi, after declaring the mentioned hadith as «غريب», said:
“And I do not know what (Khalaf ibn Ayyub) is like?” [جامع ترمذي ص 605]
◄ Imam Abu Ja‘far al-‘Uqayli said:
«ولكن حدث خلف هذا عن قيس وعوف بمناكير لم يتابع عليها وكان مرجئا»
“But this Khalaf narrated objectionable (munkar) reports from Qays and ‘Awf, in which he was not followed, and he was a Murji’.” [كتاب الضعفاء الكبير 2؍24 ت443]
↰ From this criticism, it is clear that the narrations reported by Khalaf ibn Ayyub from Qays ibn al-Rabi‘ and ‘Awf al-A‘rabi are objectionable (munkar), i.e., weak and rejected. It is evident that the specific is given precedence over the general, and the explained over the unexplained.
◄ Shaykh al-Albani rahimahullah, after a philosophical discussion on the criticism and praise (al-jarh wa al-ta‘dil) of Khalaf ibn Ayyub, mentioned two corroborating reports (shawahid) for this narration:
➊ The mursal (rather, mu‘dal) narration of Muhammad ibn Hamzah ibn Yusuf ibn ‘Abdullah ibn Salam (a Tabi‘ al-Tabi‘i), as cited by Ibn al-Mubarak, whose weakness is apparent due to its discontinuity.
➋ The same narration with the chain of Ibn al-Mubarak, with the chain: Muhammad ibn Hamzah from ‘Abdullah ibn Salam. [مسند الشهاب للقضاعي 210/1ح 318]
↰ This narration is also disconnected (munqati‘), and there is also some consideration regarding the wording attributed to ‘Abdullah ibn Salam.
In summary, both of these chains are weak; therefore, the narration reported by Khalaf ibn Ayyub remains weak. «والله اعلم»