LOS ANGELES — “I am a celebrity here on Earth, but what I want to be is a celebrity in the eyes of God, in the heavens,” Hanan Turk says to an audience eager to hear why the superstar donned hijab and became active in Islamic charity work.

At 38 years old, Turk’s fan base consists of millions of television and movie fans from North Africa to the Gulf peninsula.

Turk started her career as a ballerina at the Cairo Ballet Institute in Egypt, and soon after became an actress. In 1991, she acted in her fist movie, “Raghba Motawahesha.” Her next role came in the TV series “Soqoot fi Be’r Al-Saba’.” Among her other TV roles were “Al-Sabr Fel Malahat”, “Al-Mal We Al-Banoun” and “Lan A’esh Fe Gelbab Aby.”

On the silver screen. she acted in “Dehk We Le’b We Gad We Hob”, “Al-Mohager” and “Haramiyyah fi Tayland” among many others.

Turk also worked alongside world famous director Youssef Chahine on numerous occasions, and in 2007, she was nominated for Best Performance by an Actress at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards.

Today, however, she is admired by a whole new group of people worldwide.

Since 2007, Turk has been an ambassador for the international charity organization, Islamic Relief.

Turk has traveled to Sudan, Iraq and the United States, doing celebrity charity work and da’wah for the organization.

A mother of three, Youssef, Adam and Mohamed, Turk hopes to be a role model for all practicing Muslims and hopes her celebrity stature will help the impoverished and needy worldwide.

In 2006, she chose to wear hijab, joining a group of Egyptian actresses who have taken the same decision, such as Hala Shiha and Abla Kamel.

However Turk’s religious transformation did not occur overnight; she spent almost a decade researching and investigating the true meaning of Islam and how to correctly implement it in all aspects of her life.

Here is what she had to say about this important turning point in her life. The interview was conducted in Arabic, and all questions and answers were translated.