"It's hard to overestimate the impact Jackson had on the world in general, much less the Muslim world," Zahed Amanullah, associate editor of the London-based altmuslim.com, wrote in an article on his website.

"Like young people elsewhere around the world, many Muslims simply loved Michael, for his gentle persona, his raw talent, or the pop culture seed planted in their subconscious.

"Regardless of socio-cultural, generational, or linguistic backgrounds, Jackson's music was the secret soundtrack to our youth."

Jackson died Thursday, June 25, after apparently suffering a cardiac arrest at his rented mansion in Beverly Hills.

While Jackson ruled the charts and dazzled audiences with electric dance moves like the backwards "moonwalk" in the 1980s, his once-stellar career was overshadowed by his startling physical transformation and multiple allegations of child abuse.

The pop superstar lived as a virtual recluse following his 2005 acquittal on charges of child molestation and plotting to kidnap his young accuser.

Despite his acquittal, the trial was a body blow from which the pop music superstar struggled to recover.

"The passing of artist and performer Michael Jackson yesterday was quite a shock to many," Dawud Wharnsby Ali, a Canadian Muslim singer, wrote on his blog. 

"My thoughts and prayers are with the Jackson family during this difficult time - and especially with Michael's young children."

• Rumored Muslim

Muslims said that the pop superstar was an icon for millions of people around the world.

"Michael was an icon, a pain-filled, troubled icon, and like many of comparable stature before him, and inevitably many after him, his fall was sudden and unexpected," US Muslim Imam Zaid Shakir wrote on his website.

"Hopefully, his faith cushioned that fall.

"Hopefully, the tears he cried in the privacy of his oftentimes lonely world, tears described by Smokey Robinson as those of a clown, shed when no one’s around, had dried," Shakir said.

Rumors were swirling that Jackson has reverted to Islam.

This was intensified on Friday when Jackson's brother Jermaine, the family's official spokesman, prayed for Allah to have mercy on him.

"May Allah be with you, Michael, always," the brother said.

Many Muslims echo similar sentiments.

"His innovations as an entertainer with the best of his intentions – to bridge gaps between people and make people smile," Amanullah, the associate editor, said.

"That someone with his influence could have benefited – and benefited from – Islam is now an academic discussion that will be pondered for as long as Jackson's music lives on."