The role of the community in accepting the testimony of witnesses

A short note on an important issue I wanted to comment on. The thing about the Hadith literature is that it does not follow the Quranic standard of evidence. It is neither a question of belief when dealing with the Ahadith literature nor rejecting or accepting as an actionable source of our Deen. The real issue centers or should center around these claims themselves, each report is a claim and no less a claim than what was said by the Prophet Mohammad Pbuh. The importance to scrutinize these claims is magnified by the fact that the message of God was delivered by the Prophet of God as well.

The reason it is irresponsible to try and convince people that any report, especially single person narrations, is authentic to the point of certainty is that it is an impossibility and here is why;

The prophet (SAW) was not aware of the hypocrites around him from among the Sahaba, my question to those that keep on peddling this "science" tell me how do you know which Sahaba to trust and which one fabricated reports?

And from among those who are round about you of the Arabs/dwellers of the desert there are hypocrites, and from among the people of Medina (also); they are stubborn in hypocrisy; you do not know them; We know them; We will chastise them twice then shall they be turned back to a grievous chastisement
Quran [9:101]

Ironically one of the report declared authentic is this; Imam Bukhari testifies that Rasool (SAW) will not be aware of what his companions did especially after His demise:

Narrated Anas: The Prophet said, "Some of my companions will come to me at my Lake Fount, and after I recognize them, they will then be taken away from me, whereupon I will say, 'My companions!' Then it will be said, 'You do not know what they innovated (new things) in the religion after you."
Sahih Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 76, Hadith 584

In addition to the above, the Quranic standard relies on three aspects; the first is the testimony of four upright witnesses, the second that these witnesses must be from "the" community where the claim was/is made. Yes, from the community where the claim is made so that people of the community can not only have the chance to cross-question them but also determine their upright status before accepting their testimony. This last point cannot be emphasized more. Furthermore, the third aspect is the banning of false witnesses from doing further damage and is part and parcel of the whole witness based evidence system.

In 99% of all Ahadith literature, the first condition is not met and in 100% of the instances, the second and third condition is not met.

That does not mean we should trash the entire Ahadith literature but restrict its role primarily as a historical account especially when these accounts have a sect centric flavor.