"I think that we need to understand that Sharia is just religious law; to the extent that people use religious law as a part of their everyday lives. The majority of Muslims here don't want to see Sharia imposed as some part of a government obligation, or anything of that sort," said Christina Abraham.

"We've politicized 9/11, we've had costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with surges, military personnel, with trillions of dollars spent. And then at the end of the day it takes what we've been saying all along - good, hard intelligence and a committed group of surgical strikes," says Ahmed Rehab.

"The American Muslim community was relieved, there's a sense of vindication. This has been a long time coming," said Rehab.