Adnan Uqla () was a

Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

Islamist

insurgent An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare against a larger authority. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irregular forces face a large, well ...

who served as the leader of the

Fighting Vanguard The Fighting Vanguard of the Mujahidin (), also known as the Fighting Vanguard of the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria (), was a Syrian militant organization and offshoot of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood that took part in violent actions against the ...

; a

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

militant group connected to the

Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ('' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar, Imam and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in 1928. Al-Banna's teachings s ...

that led the failed Islamist insurrection in Syria. He was noted as being particularly pious and of being the Vanguard's most charismatic and influential figure.

Early life and education

Uqla, the son of a baker, was born into a middle-class family in

Quneitra Quneitra (also Al Qunaytirah, Qunaitira, or Kuneitra; , ''al-Qunayṭrah'' or ''al-Qunayṭirah'' ) is the largely destroyed and abandoned capital of the Quneitra Governorate in south-western Syria. It is situated in a high valley in the Golan ...

in 1950. Uqla studied

civil engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

, and also served in the

Syrian Army The Syrian Army is the land force branch of the Syrian Armed Forces. Up until the fall of the Assad regime, the Syrian Arab Army existed as a land force branch of the Syrian Arab Armed Forces, which dominanted the military service of the fo ...

as an officer.

Islamic uprising in Syria

Uqla played a key role in the planning of the

Aleppo Artillery School massacre The Aleppo Artillery School massacre was a sectarian massacre of Syrian Army cadets on 16 June 1979. It was carried out by a handful of members of the Muslim Brotherhood's Fighting Vanguard led by ʽAdnan ʽUqla, Adnan Uqlah and Ibrahim al-Youss ...

in 1979. Uqla declared the independence of the Fighting Vanguard from the Muslim Brotherhood in January 1981, and claimed that he was continuing the fight against the Syrian government for the sake of God. Uqla arrived in

Hama Hama ( ', ) is a city on the banks of the Orontes River in west-central Syria. It is located north of Damascus and north of Homs. It is the provincial capital of the Hama Governorate. With a population of 996,000 (2023 census), Hama is one o ...

anticipating the beginning of a general uprising against the Syrian government. Despite having broken with the Muslim Brotherhood, Uqla was only officially dismissed from his position as leader of the Fighting Vanguard in April 1982, following the

Hama Massacre Hama massacre may refer to: * 1925 Hama uprising during the Great Syrian Revolt The Great Syrian Revolt (), also known as the Revolt of 1925, was a general uprising across the State of Syria (1925–1930), State of Syria and Greater Lebanon duri ...

. Many leaders of the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood fled to Iraq, and although the Iraqi government welcomed the political leaders, it refused to provide refuge to leaders of the Fighting Vanguard. According to some reports Uqla was arrested when trying to sneak back into Syria in 1983 or 1984, after being refused refuge in Iraq. Other sources cite him as being killed in 1982, or being caught by Syrian security forces in late 1982. None of these reports however could be verified and Uqla thus remains missing.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uqla, Adnan 1951 births Syrian Sunni Muslims People of the Islamic uprising in Syria Muslim Brotherhood of Syria politicians Possibly living people People from Quneitra People declared dead in absentia 1982 deaths Missing Syrian people Syrian Islamists

Early life and education

Islamic uprising in Syria

See also

References