It is a residential and commercial area with malls, stores and souks,[1] and comprises several towns and municipalities,[2] including Ghobeiry, Haret Hreik, Bourj el-Barajneh, Ouzai, and Hay El-Saloum.

The community was first mentioned in a decree that the Mamluk viceroy issued against the Shiites of Beirut and the surrounding areas in 1363, demanding that they stop practicing Shia rituals.

[7][page needed] Prior to the start of the Lebanese Civil War in 1975, Dahieh was one of the increasingly urbanized rural settlements outside of Beirut, with a mixed community of Christians and Shia Muslims.

From 1920 to 1943 many Shia moved to Dahieh from Southern Lebanon and Beqaa Valley, where the French mandate cracked down on Shiite anti-French rebels in June 1920.

[1][9] Hours after the August 14, 2006, ceasefire, Hezbollah pledged to reconstruct houses for the residents of Dahieh, and offered rent money for the period in which they were being built.

[10] On September 22, 2006, Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah attended a mass rally in Dahieh declaring a "Divine Victory" against Israel.

[14] On September 27, 2024, Israel launched airstrikes on the suburb, which led to the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah as part of the attack, as confirmed on the following day.