Evaluation of the Basat (" the Flying rug") tradition

Basat or flying rug tradition illustrates the strange event of Ali’s space journey on the flying rug، which took place in the presence of some companions of the Prophet، including Abu Bakr and Umar. This journey from Madinah to the Cave of the Sleepers has taken place at the time of the Prophet، peace be upon him and his household، to prove the supremacy of Ali and his authority over others. In all narrations except that of Thaalibi it is reported that the people of the Cave answered the greeting of Ali but refrained from answering the greeting of others. In this article besides offering the transmission chain of the Basat tradition، it is shown that the main transmitters of the tradition have been Jabir and Anas. Then a full report of the sixteen ways the tradition has been transmitted is given. At the end in a library research and on the basis of Shii and Sunni sources all the ways in which the tradition has been transmitted، in respect of documents and content، have been evaluated. It is concluded that the possibility of such occurrence is totally accepted but in regard of the reliability of the documents، which makes the theoretical ground of this research، the occurrence of the event itself meets with some doubt. Of course، on the basis of the reliability of the sources the truth of the tradition and on the ground of the tradition being well-known and accepted by earlier scholars its occurrence may be accepted، though the tradition concerning the number of the people and the events that happened throughout the journey is not clear.