Administratively, the town is located in Markaz Rif Dimashq district and belongs to the nahiyah ("subdistrict") of Babbila.

Many Shia and pro government families were driven out of their homes in southern Damascus and sought refuge in Sayyidah Zaynab.

In January 2013 a mortar shell landed on the Sayyidah Zaynab Shrine causing some damage to one of the minarets.

[14] The attacks came as delegates from the Syrian government and opposition groups gathered in Geneva for provisional peace talks.

[20] According to the Times of Israel on 21 May 2022, citing a Twitter, account which follows Israeli military activity in Syria, it was alleged that "the strikes targeted sites in the suburb of Sayyidah Zaynab, south of Damascus".