=== Mughtasila, baptizers ===[[Ibn al-Nadim]] also mentions a group called the Mughtasila, "the self-ablutionists", who may be identified with one or the other of these groups. The members of this sect, like the Mandaeans, wore white and performed baptisms.
=== Identifications ===
Whether groups such as the Elkasaites, the Mughtasila, the Nasoraeans, and the Dositheans can be identified with the Mandaeans or one another is a difficult question. While it seems certain that a number of distinct groups are intended by these names, the nature of these sects and the connections between them are less than clear. At least according to the Fihrist (see above), these groups seem all to have emerged from or developed in parallel with the "Sabian" followers of El-Hasaih; "Elkasaites" in particular may simply have been a blanket term for Mughtasila, Mandaeans, the original Sabians and even Manichaeans.
== Mandaeans today =={{main|Mandaeans}}
Mandaeans are an ethnoreligious group indigenous to the alluvial plain of southern Mesopotamia and are exclusively followers of Mandaeism, a [[Gnostic]] religion, originated in the Middle East. The Mandaeans were originally native speakers of , a [[Semitic language]], which evolved from Eastern Middle [[Aramaic]], before switching to colloquial [[Iraqi Arabic]] and [[Modern Persian]]. Mandaic is mainly preserved as a [[liturgical language]]. During the last decade the indigenous Mandaic community of Iraq, which used to number 60-70,000 persons has collapsed due to Iraq War, with most of the community relocating to nearby Iran, Syria and Jordan and forming diaspora communities outside of the Middle East. The other indigenous community of Iranian Mandaeans has also been dwindling due to religious persecution over the last decade.ref
