Ramadan isn’t just about the food,  or the lack thereof. It’s supposed to be a full lifestyle reset. We wanted to see how people navigated a season where the expected conduct doesn’t exactly match the average Gen Z lifestyle, so, we simply asked them. If you’re trying to balance your social life, your playlist, and your spiritual goals, here’s the blueprint, straight from our community of Muslims aged 20-something.

The Playlist Problem

Music seems to be the hardest thing to give up, harder than food for a lot of people. One 27-year-old respondent admits he still checks new releases every morning: “I consume music like food. I find myself keeping track of the latest releases even though I know I should be reading the Quran.” Others swap Afrobeats for recitations and lectures: one 21-year-old in Lagos says the replacement came naturally: “I’ve learnt to replace music with Quran or Islamic lectures.” And then there’s the most creative solution we heard: a 25-year-old from Borno who quietly swaps her regular playlist for “clean, teen-pop Disneyish songs and sometimes even songs by gospel artists that sound more like moral lessons than Christian scripture.” No judgement. You do what you have to do.

Guard Your Mind, Not Just Your Stomach

 Ramadan fasting is about more than food; it’s about what you let into your head too. One 21-year-old in Lagos put it plainly: “Ramadan teaches discipline, but I still catch myself entertaining unnecessary thoughts. It reminds me that fasting is about guarding your mind too.” Less doom-scrolling, less gossip, less chochocho. More intentional conversations. Easier said than done, but that’s the point.

The TikTok Trap

Navigating social media while fasting is its own spiritual challenge, because not everyone on the apps is observing Ramadan. The dirty joke in your For You page, the unsolicited spicy content, the Twitter tea that is simply too hot to ignore. The 25-year-old from Borno describes it honestly: “On a normal day, I wouldn’t actively seek them out, but if it’s in a movie, fine. If it’s in a TikTok, I’ll enjoy the dirty joke. But during Ramadan, I’ll definitely scroll.” That’s the move: don’t negotiate with it, just keep going.

Your Social Life Doesn’t Have to Die

While you have to adjust certain things (“no more evening events and parties of any kind for me, man’s gotta lock in with the prayers”, according to one respondent), you don’t have to disappear. Most of the people we spoke to still hang out with their friends, they just don’t eat with them. One respondent who went to boarding school says managing non-Muslim friends has always been straightforward: “We still roll together.” Others are more deliberate about it. A 21-year-old said, “Some adjust out of respect, some don’t, and that’s okay, I don’t expect everyone to revolve around me.” The sweetest story we heard came from the same person: “A Christian friend brought me iftar the other day. Ramadan is also about community.” Though some remain firm on the question of whether they’re sharing with non-fasters: “No iftar for them” 😂. Valid.

Backsliding

Almost everyone has had that moment. An attitude that slipped, a fast that didn’t hold, a piece of content they shouldn’t have watched. The 25-year-old from Borno was straightforward about it: “Yes, but I sincerely repented and tried to be better.” That seems to be the consensus: don’t let one bad moment become a reason to abandon the whole month. Acknowledge it, ask for forgiveness, and keep going.

The Version of You That Shows Up in Ramadan 

This is the real one. More disciplined, more calm, more forgiving, actually praying five times a day. Every single person we spoke to said they liked this version of themselves. One person described himself as “more disciplined, more spiritually aware, forgiving, less reactive, more intentional.” Another said plainly: “I love the version that actually remembers to pray five times every day. Unfortunately, she doesn’t stick around for very long after. One person put it differently, with admirable self-awareness: “The version of me I love is the man who lowers his gaze. I wish this could be my permanent reality, but even when I try to look away, the beauty of women grips me, they are indeed God’s best creation. Allahu Akbar!” 

The harder question, the one nobody has fully solved yet, is how to keep that person around after Ramadan ends.