Mīshawayh al-ʿUkbarī founded a sect in Babylonia/Iraq in the second half of the ninth century that is known mainly from Karaite texts (see Karaism). The name Mīshawayh indicates that he was of Persian origin. ʿUkbara is not far from Baghdad. Some Karaite sources refer to him as Baʿalbeqi, which perhaps indicates that he emigrated from Babylonia to the vicinity of Baalbek in northern Lebanon.

Although Mīshawayh was later attacked by the Karaites, he appears to have been associated with the Karaite Mourners of Zion sect at the beginning of his career. The Mourners held that si…