Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: Ko te Banu Shihab i te timatanga he iwi Arapi mai i te Hejaz. E ai ki te kaituhituhi o te rautau 19 a Mikhail Mishaqa, ko nga Banu Shihab he uri no te hapu Banu Makhzum o Quraysh no hea a Khalid ibn al-Walid, a ko te tupuna o te whanau tetahi hoia ko Harith i hinga i te pakanga i te kuwaha Bab Sharqi o Ramahiku i te wa o te Muslim
te whakapae o taua pa i te tau 634. I tetahi wa i muri i te wikitoria a te Mahometa i waenganui o te rautau 7 o Hiria, i noho te iwi ki te rohe o Hauran ki te tonga o Ramahiku. I te tau 1172, i te wa o te kingitanga o te Ayyubid sultan Saladin, ka heke atu a Banu Shihab ki te hauauru mai i to ratau kainga o Shahba i Jabal Hauran ki Wadi al-Taym, he mania i raro o Maunga Hermona (Jabal ash-Sheikh).