A construction text, over the lintel to a shrine known both as az-Zawiyah, and al Kihlwah, informs us that it was built by Mubarak Ibn Salih Alusi in the Mamluk era, in the year 791 AH, that is 1389 CE.
The place appeared in 1596 Ottoman tax registers as Jim Safut, being in the Nahiya of Bani Sa'b of the Liwa of Nablus. It had a population of 26 households, all Muslim. They paid a fixed tax-rate of 33.3% on agricultural products, including wheat barley, summer crops, olives, goats and beehives, and a press for olives or grapes; a total of 8,654 akçe. In 1838, Robinson noted Jin Safut as a village in Beni Sa'ab district, west of Nablus. In 1870 Victor Guérin noted it from Fara'ata, but did not visit it. In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described the village as "a small village on high ground, with wells to the north, and a few olives."
In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Jensafut had a population of 267 inhabitants, all Muslims, increasing in the 1931 census to 315 Muslims, with 76 houses. In the 1945 census the population was 450 Muslims, with 9,356 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 1,410 dunams were for plantations or irrigated land, 2,208 for cereals, while 14 dunams were built-up land.
Some families of Jinsafut include al-Ayoub, al-Sukar, al-Saber, al-Allan, al-Nassar, al-Bashir and Eid. Prior to 1967, Jinsafut had a population of 700, which decreased to 550 after the 1967 Six-Day War; The drop was caused by residents fleeing the village to Jordan. According to a PCBS estimate, the village had grown to 2,122 inhabitants in 2003, then rose to 2,280 in 2006.
Economy
Before 1967, 99.5% of Jinsafut's labor force depended agriculture, particularly on peach and grape crops, as well as raising livestock. The remainder worked in civil jobs. From 1967 to 2002, 91% of the village residents depended on agriculture or working in Israel, 6% were employed in the Palestinian National Authority government and 3% worked in commerce. Since the beginning of the Second Intifada, vehicle movement in Jinsafut has been constricted by Israel, contributing to 93% of the working population being unemployed. According to the Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem, Jinsafut has a land area of 9,335 dunams; 31.8% is used for growing crops, 4.3% are for heterogeneous agricultural areas, 1.9% for herbaceous vegetation associations, 5.2% is designated as arable land, 3% is built-up area, 8% is used for land for Israeli settlements and the remainder is forest area.