The village is located in the Wadi Ara area of the northern Triangle, 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) northeast of Umm al-Fahm.

[4] It was one of the oldest settlements of the so-called "Fahmawi Commonwealth" established by Hebronite clans belonging to Umm al-Fahm.

The Commonwealth consisted of a network of interspersed communities connected by ties of kinship, and socially, economically and politically affiliated with Umm al Fahm.

The Commonwealth dominated vast sections of Bilad al-Ruha/Ramot Menashe, Wadi 'Ara and Marj Ibn 'Amir/Jezreel Valley during that time.

[14] During the British Mandate, the total land area of Musmus was around 6,000 dunams and its boundaries reached the Jezreel Valley.

[15][16][17][18] In addition to agriculture, residents practiced animal husbandry which formed was an important source of income for the town.

[27] In 2002, a suicide bombing attack on an Egged bus at the Musmus junction on Highway 65 killed seven people and wounded thirty.

When Interior Ministry workers arrived at Musmus with police reinforcements to carry out the demolition order, they were met with resistance from the inhabitants.

[29] In 2013 the far-right wing party Otzma Yehudit held a march in the village in protest against unauthorized construction in Arab communities in Israel.

32.6% of the male workforce were employed in construction; 20.7% in wholesale, retail trade, and Auto Mechanism; 15.1% in education; and the rest in other sectors.