Where did the idea for the Ramadan Planner come from?

It all started a few years ago when I befriended someone who had recently converted to Islam and was finding fasting during Ramadan difficult – especially as she was living alone in the UK. So, we used to exchange gifts and I’d make her these planners and little information packs so she had the knowledge and tools for Ramadan. As time went on, however, I’d find myself constantly adding bits and pieces to this planner I’d made for her, and one day I sent her the then final version. She sent me a message a couple of days later asking if she could send the planner on to her friends, and it took off from there.

My family convinced me to share this planner I’d created online – which I did, for free – and download links broke several times due to the demand, which led me to create a website to upload the planner. Now, it’s going to be a physical planner for anyone to use.

Has creating this book changed your own relationship to your faith?

Yes, definitely. Especially when I was putting together the smaller bits of the book such as the quotes that relate to each day, which I chose specifically to match the tracking progress but also to suit the mood of that particular day in Ramadan. For example, the first few days are all quotes based on hardship as people tend to struggle a little at the beginning. And the more I researched and found new quotes, the more I learned about the finer details of Islam and my thirst for knowledge grew to the point that I now want to translate some of the research I found into social media content so that I can share with my community and beyond.

How are you feeling about Ramadan?

I’m really excited; it’s always such a beautiful atmosphere of togetherness. I feel a lot more prepared than I ever was before, especially with the Ramadan Planner and having habits in place that I’ve built up over the last year or so, which will hopefully make things easier. I want to focus on my spiritual connection and the Quran, which I made sure was a significant part of the book. Ramadan is only 30 days, but the planner is around 200 pages and that’s because there’s so much more to the holy month than not eating or drinking.

Preparing for Ramadan? Dina Aziz shares why we all need to use the Ramadan Planner