Rashied Omar is Research Scholar of Islamic Studies and Peacebuilding at the University of Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. He says bin Laden defiled Islam. An expert on Islam, religion and violence, interreligious dialogue and peacebuilding, Omar trained in religious studies at the University of Cape Town and in Sudan, Pakistan and Malaysia.

Flagg Miller is a religious studies professor at the University of California, Davis, who can talk about bin Laden’s influence among a diverse range of Islamic militant movements. Miller is writing a book, Becoming Bin Laden, that investigates the contents of the al-Qaeda leader’s own audiotape library, a collection of more than 1,500 tapes.

Sarah Eltantawi is a scholar of religion, with a specialty in Islamic studies. She has written widely on Islam and politics.

The Wall Street Journal describes mixed reactions to Osama bin Laden’s death in the Mideast, particularly among Arabs on the street. One said the death was “good for everyone — for Muslims and Christians.” He added, though, that some view bin Laden sympathetically. “Some people loved him.”

A May 2, 2011, CNN story says the Muslim world had largely soured on bin Laden since 9/11.

In a New York Times article about reactions worldwide, Sheik Omar Bakri Mohammed, former head of the militant Islamist group Al Muhajiroun, called bin Laden a martyr and predicted “he will be a role model to Muslim youth.”

Leaders of Hamas and the Taliban mourned the death of Osama bin Laden and threatened retaliation.

Arsalan Iftikhar, an international human rights lawyer who is also founder of TheMuslimGuy.com and global managing editor for The Crescent Post in Washington, D.C.,  called bin Laden’s death a reason for rejoicing by Muslims.

CNN reports that U.S. Muslims hope the death will ease pressure on their community.