 In the 19th century, the village was named "Majdal al-Sadiq" after Sheikh Muhammad al-Sadiq al-Jamma'ini, the chief of the village who hailed from the prominent Rayyan clan.The Rayyan were a branch of the Bedouin Bani Ghazi tribe that emigrated to Palestine from Jordan in the 17th century.According to Eli Smith, in 1843, the fortress (known as the "Rayyan Fortress") in the village was in ruins.