According to the historian Kamal Salibi, the "origins of the house of Ma'n remains unclear, what is related about it by the traditional Lebanese historians being without foundation".
The traditional account holds that the eponymous progenitor of the Banu Ma'n belonged to a clan of the Rabi'a, a large Arab tribal confederation with branches in the upper Euphrates River valley.
Ma'n fought alongside the Artuqid leader Ilghazi against the Crusaders in northern Syria.
He later moved to the Beqaa Valley until being transferred to the area of the Chouf (also transliterated as Shuf) in southern Mount Lebanon in 1120 by Ilghazi's ally, Toghtekin of Damascus, to reinforce the Tanukhid Druze emirs of the neighboring Gharb district around modern Aley against the Crusader lords of Beirut.
According to Salibi's analysis of the 19th-century history of Tannus al-Shidyaq, the deployment of the Ma'n was part of the wider deployment of Arab military settlers to parts of Mount Lebanon and its environs by the Muslim rulers of Damascus to counter the Crusaders.
The emirs of the Banu Shihab, an Arab family established in nearby Wadi al-Taym, collaborated with the Ma'nids against the Crusaders and from early on the two families established marital ties.

The Crusaders had captured Beirut in 1110 and during their subsequent raids against the Gharb the Tanukhid emir Adud al-Dawla and most of his kinsmen were slain.
Ma'n had found the Chouf abandoned, though there is no evidence of its desolation at the time, according to the historian Robert Brendon Betts.
The Tanukhid emir Buhtur, who was appointed commander of the Gharb by Damascus in 1147, supported the Ma'nid emir in constructing permanents dwellings for his clan in the Chouf.
The Ma'n were joined in the settlement of the Chouf by their north Syrian associates, the Abu Nakad and Talhuq clans.
Refugees from nearby areas taken over by the Crusaders migrated to the Chouf and numerous villages were founded, including the Ma'n's headquarter village of Baaqlin.
Baaqlin became a major center of the Druze faith, and in the present day is the largest Druze locality in Lebanon.
Betts deems it improbable that the Banu Ma'n had been followers of "the Druze religion before coming into its sphere" in Mount Lebanon.
Ma'n died in 1148 and was succeeded as head of his clan by his son Mundhir.
According to the historian William Harris, the Banu Ma'n retained their lordship of the Chouf, as well as their ties to the descendants of Buhtur and the Banu Shihab, from their establishment in 1120 through the Mamluk era (1260–1516).

A Ma'nid chief of the Chouf, Fakhr al-Din Uthman, also called Fakhr al-Din I to distinguish him from his better known descendant, was the first Ma'nid "whose historicity is beyond question", according to Salibi.
The Gharb-based Druze chronicler Ibn Sibat (d. 1520) refers to Fakhr al-Din Uthman as the "emir of the Ashwaf [plural of Chouf] in the region of Sidon" who died in August/September 1506.
The Damascene historian Shams al-Din Ibn Tulun (d. 1546) notes that a certain "Ibn Ma'n" was in the custody of the Mamluk governor of Damascus in 1498/99, and an inscription in a mosque in Deir al-Qamar, a major village in the Chouf, credits "al-Maqarr al-Fakhri [the Fakhrid Seat] Emir Fakhr al-Din Uthman ibn al-Hajj Yunis ibn Ma'n" as the builder of the mosque in 1493.
Fakhr al-Din's construction of a mosque, which were not used by the Druze, and the  honorific of al-Hajj attached to the name of his father Yunis indicates they were influenced by the major Druze religious reformer, their contemporary al-Sayyid al-Tanukhi (d. 1479), who advocated for Druze adoption of traditional Muslim rituals.
They may also have represented attempts to gain favor with the Sunni Muslim Mamluk rulers.
The usage of the terms "emir" (commander) and al-Maqarr (an honorific for leading Mamluk officers or officials) suggest the Ma'nid chiefs held military commissions in the Mamluk army.
Fakhr al-Din's son Yunis was also called by Ibn Sibat the "emir of the Ashwaf" at the time of his death in 1511/12.
The accounts of Ibn
According to the historian Kamal Salibi, the "origins of the house of Ma'n remains unclear, what is related about it by the traditional Lebanese historians being without foundation". The traditional account holds that the eponymous progenitor of the Banu Ma'n belonged to a clan of the Rabi'a, a large Arab tribal confederation with branches in the upper Euphrates River valley. Ma'n fought alongside the Artuqid leader Ilghazi against the Crusaders in northern Syria. He later moved to the Beqaa Valley until being transferred to the area of the Chouf (also transliterated as Shuf) in southern Mount Lebanon in 1120 by Ilghazi's ally, Toghtekin of Damascus, to reinforce the Tanukhid Druze emirs of the neighboring Gharb district around modern Aley against the Crusader lords of Beirut. According to Salibi's analysis of the 19th-century history of Tannus al-Shidyaq, the deployment of the Ma'n was part of the wider deployment of Arab military settlers to parts of Mount Lebanon and its environs by the Muslim rulers of Damascus to counter the Crusaders. The emirs of the Banu Shihab, an Arab family established in nearby Wadi al-Taym, collaborated with the Ma'nids against the Crusaders and from early on the two families established marital ties.
The Crusaders had captured Beirut in 1110 and during their subsequent raids against the Gharb the Tanukhid emir Adud al-Dawla and most of his kinsmen were slain. Ma'n had found the Chouf abandoned, though there is no evidence of its desolation at the time, according to the historian Robert Brendon Betts. The Tanukhid emir Buhtur, who was appointed commander of the Gharb by Damascus in 1147, supported the Ma'nid emir in constructing permanents dwellings for his clan in the Chouf. The Ma'n were joined in the settlement of the Chouf by their north Syrian associates, the Abu Nakad and Talhuq clans. Refugees from nearby areas taken over by the Crusaders migrated to the Chouf and numerous villages were founded, including the Ma'n's headquarter village of Baaqlin. Baaqlin became a major center of the Druze faith, and in the present day is the largest Druze locality in Lebanon. Betts deems it improbable that the Banu Ma'n had been followers of "the Druze religion before coming into its sphere" in Mount Lebanon. Ma'n died in 1148 and was succeeded as head of his clan by his son Mundhir. According to the historian William Harris, the Banu Ma'n retained their lordship of the Chouf, as well as their ties to the descendants of Buhtur and the Banu Shihab, from their establishment in 1120 through the Mamluk era (1260–1516).
A Ma'nid chief of the Chouf, Fakhr al-Din Uthman, also called Fakhr al-Din I to distinguish him from his better known descendant, was the first Ma'nid "whose historicity is beyond question", according to Salibi. The Gharb-based Druze chronicler Ibn Sibat (d. 1520) refers to Fakhr al-Din Uthman as the "emir of the Ashwaf [plural of Chouf] in the region of Sidon" who died in August/September 1506. The Damascene historian Shams al-Din Ibn Tulun (d. 1546) notes that a certain "Ibn Ma'n" was in the custody of the Mamluk governor of Damascus in 1498/99, and an inscription in a mosque in Deir al-Qamar, a major village in the Chouf, credits "al-Maqarr al-Fakhri [the Fakhrid Seat] Emir Fakhr al-Din Uthman ibn al-Hajj Yunis ibn Ma'n" as the builder of the mosque in 1493. Fakhr al-Din's construction of a mosque, which were not used by the Druze, and the  honorific of al-Hajj attached to the name of his father Yunis indicates they were influenced by the major Druze religious reformer, their contemporary al-Sayyid al-Tanukhi (d. 1479), who advocated for Druze adoption of traditional Muslim rituals. They may also have represented attempts to gain favor with the Sunni Muslim Mamluk rulers. The usage of the terms "emir" (commander) and al-Maqarr (an honorific for leading Mamluk officers or officials) suggest the Ma'nid chiefs held military commissions in the Mamluk army. Fakhr al-Din's son Yunis was also called by Ibn Sibat the "emir of the Ashwaf" at the time of his death in 1511/12. The accounts of Ibn 
Ma'n dynasty