Adnan Saad al-Din

After the Hama Massacre and the downfall of the National Alliance for the Liberation of Syria, Adnan would leave Muslim Brotherhood and be succeeded by Hassan Howeidi. He died out of natural causes at the first day of August in 2010.

After the failed assassination attempt against Haffez al-Assad, Syrian government's actions against the Muslim Brotherhood insurgents has escalated immensely with massacres being committed in retaliation to the assassination attempt. Eventually this would lead into the Islamist uprising in Hama, which the government forces would react with a massive force from Lebanon and neighbouring cities to surpass it. After the Hama uprising, the Islamist insurrection was broken, and the Brotherhood has since operated in exile while other factions surrendered or slipped into hiding. Government attitudes in Syria hardened considerably during the uprising, and Assad would rely more on repression than on political tactics for the remainder of his rule, although an economic liberalization began in the 1990s.

However, in spite of its political breadth, it was unable to mobilize any popular revolt against the incumbent regime in Damascus. Instead, the activities of the coalition were largely limited to defamation against the Damascus government. Notably the foundation of the National Alliance came after the Hama revolt, by the time the possibility for mobilizing opposition activities inside Syria was too late. By the mid-1980s the platform was defunct.

On 16 June 1979, the Muslim Brotherhood carried out an attack on cadets at the Aleppo Artillery School, officially killing 83. Around this time, professor Yusef al-Yusef was assassinated in Aleppo. The Syrian government responded by sentencing to death about 15 prisoners, already accused of being Iraqi agents, for belonging to the Islamic resistance movement. Terrorist attacks then became a daily occurrence, particularly in Aleppo and other northern cities. The government tended to ascribe these attacks to the Brotherhood, but as the armed resistance gained widespread popular support and more loosely defined armed groups appeared, especially in poor neighborhoods, it became difficult to determine the extent of the Brotherhood's involvement.

According to Abdullah Al-Tantawi, under the leadership of Adnan Saad al-Din, the Muslim Brotherhood of Syria took the initiative to form a committee to set the statute and internal system for the group, to rely on it in its progress, and another to make a plan for the group, according to the progress it had. According to Abdullah, Adnan has hated improvisation at work and planning was the best approach for him and for the group he has assumed responsibility since 1975. With the goal of uniting all Islamist groups under one flag, he took the initiative to build good relations between the Muslim Brotherhood and a number of scholars, which ended with the formation of the Islamic Front in Syria.

Adnan also established relations with a number of parties in the countries of the Arab world and the Islamic world. For this reason, he toured many American cities, Muslim and Arabic countries and additionally European countries to strengthen the relations of the local Brotherhood organisations and to improve relations with political parties, politicians and influential figures. Prior to Adnan assumed the role of the Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, his predecessor was Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghuddah, who was critical of the 1966 Syrian coup d'état which brought Salah Jadid to the Presidency. Abu Ghuddah used his position to rally scholars, whom he encouraged to boycott the state and voice opposition to Jadid's violent policies. As a result of Ghuddah's activities in the opposition he was arrested and imprisoned in the remote Tadmor Prison, where he was kept for 11 months, before being released along with all other political prisoners in 1967 as part of an amnesty following the Six-Day War with Israel. After Abu Ghuddah left Syria and went into exile in Saudi Arabia, Adnan became the new Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria.

Adnan was born into a family of vegetable merchants and studied in a school that combined the official certificates of the Syrian Republic and Islamic sciences. He also studied Arabic literature at King Fuad University in Cairo and graduated from it in 1955. During this time, he came into contact with Mustafa al-Sibai, leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, which led him into joining the organisation. In 1960, some disputes occurred between him and the members of the group, which led to his dismissal from the Muslim Brotherhood for about 17 years.

Adnan Saad al-Din (1929–2010) was the fourth supreme guide of the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria between 1976 and 1981.