Through interactions with Muslim Turkish women at the Pacifica Institute in Irvine, I noted the extensive social, cultural and religious community activism in which female members of the transnational Gülen movement take part. Breaking stereotypes regarding Islam and Muslim women, many of their activities appear to reflect the attempt to transcend the stereotypical categories of “East” and “West” that often shape our understandings of “the other.” They have organized a monthly lecture series on a wide range of topics, including health, law, family, and religious change. Participating in an ongoing basis in various types of interfaith dialogue, members have extended ongoing invitations to women of other denominations. Pacifica members also sponsor and volunteer in events, such as the Anatolian Festival held in Costa Mesa in 2009, which put forward positive images of Turkey—and Islam as it has manifested in Turkey—in America. Active in the public realm, this group works to forge a new communal religious identity, new ways to be Muslim women, and new ways of interacting with the greater American community and religious landscape. This study reflects the results of twenty interviews carried out with female members of this movement as it manifests in Southern California. In it, I explore the extent, significance, and impact of their community activism, and the underlying context of this phenomenon. How do these women understand the significance of their activism? How does this impact gender roles? To what extent do class, education, and globalization play a role?

Professor Sophia Pandya specializes in women, Islam, and globalization. She received her BA from UC Berkeley in Near Eastern Studies/Arabic, and her MA and PhD from UCSB in Religious Studies, with a focus on women and Islam. A Fulbright scholar, she researched Muslim women’s changing religious practices in Bahrain, looking at the impact of education on women’s religious activities, which became the topic of her dissertation. Dr. Pandya was hired as a full-time assistant professor in 2006. After spending several summers in Sana’a, Yemen, she completed a project which examines religious change among educated Yemeni women, and the implications of modernity, globalization, and education on their practices. Currently, she is working on another which explores the ways in which older, illiterate Yemeni women navigate conflicting religious discourses, while still seeking to fulfill their own self-interests.