From a 2014 Excel spreadsheet to a focused night prayer companion — how a decade-long idea became Wirdi.
The idea was born as an Excel spreadsheet to track the five daily obligatory prayers — their timing, location, and quality. The goal was simple: a personal continuous improvement process (Kaizen) applied to the most important pillar of daily Muslim life. Each prayer received a score based on when and where it was performed.
The concept evolved into detailed process flows and mockups for an Android app, documented in a PowerPoint presentation. The vision was ambitious: track every aspect of the five prayers — whether you prayed at the mosque, which row you stood in, whether you caught the Takbiratul Ihram, group or alone. Variables, scoring algorithms, and UI wireframes were meticulously designed.
Discovered Airtable. All historical prayer data was imported, and a custom Airtable app/view was built to track Qiyam al-Layl during the next Ramadan. This was the first dedicated Qiyam tracking tool — and the first signal that night prayer tracking, separated from the five-prayer system, had standalone value.
The Airtable tracker was put to the test during Ramadan. It worked and was used for a few more years during Ramadan — but the limitations of a spreadsheet-based tool, combined with a separate time tracker app for a nightly habit, became clear. The experience confirmed the need for a dedicated mobile app, but the technical barriers to building one solo remained high.
AI capabilities unleashed the remaining hurdles. With AI-assisted development, the vision that had been blocked for years by technical complexity became achievable — starting with the Qiyam focus. In a matter of weeks, the app went from concept to a feature-rich, production-ready MVP in 4 languages with full RTL support, and a comprehensive prayer analytics engine.
The voluntary night prayer (Qiyam al-Layl) is different from the five obligatory prayers in a fundamental way: being optional, the motivation to stay consistent on it is a real non-compulsory challenge. The five daily prayers must be completed every day in all situations — the obligation itself provides structure. But Qiyam has no such external enforcement. Making it a spiritual habit with deep commitment requires a genuine determination to reach the higher levels.
This makes it the act of worship where consistency is the hardest — and where a tracking tool adds the most value. The data model is also clean: start time, duration, what you recited, and a beautiful long-term goal (completing the Qur'an). The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ told us that the most beloved deeds to Allah are those done consistently in the long term, even if small.
Standalone Qur’an reading and the five daily prayers tracker — the original 2014 vision — will be added soon, in shaa Allah.
Wirdi exists to help you build the most fruitful and meaningful habits with a high sense of self-accountability. Start your journey tonight.