Islamic conquest of Syria, the Muslim army of general Khalid ibn al-Walid reached Huwwarin following their capture of al-Qaryatayn and raided the town's cattle. Bolstered by reinforcements from Baalbek and Bosra, Huwwarin's residents resisted Khalid's troops, but were quickly defeated in the minor battle. Afterward, some of the town's defenders were killed while others were taken prisoner.
Part of Jund Hims ("Military District of Hims"), Huwwarin flourished during the roughly 90 years of Umayyad Caliphate rule (661-750) and remained populated by Ghassanid Christians. It was the favorite recreation spot of the second Umayyad caliph Yazid I (680-683), who drank and hunted there. The caliph resided in Huwwarin frequently and died and was buried in the town on 11 November 683.
Syrian geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi visited the town in 1226, during Ayyubid rule in Syria and noted that it was "a fortress near Hims."
Modern era
By the 19th-century, Huwwarin was a small Muslim village. Irish missionary William Wright visited it and noted that the town was locally famous for "its seven splendid churches," although most of them were bare remains. He wrote that the largest church was rectangular in shape, 46 meters (151 ft) by 38 meters (125 ft) and over 9 meters (30 ft) high. It consisted of a central hall with three rooms on each side and fragments containing Greek inscriptions. It apparently grew to being a large village by the beginning of the 20th-century according to the 1909 Catholic Encyclopedia."
It was described as "a doleful agglomeration of old buildings, including a very well preserved Byzantine fort and the remains of two churches." Huwwarin was excavated in 2003-04
