Smartphone-Based Digital Distraction and Spiritual Purification Among Muslim Generation Z Students

The digital ecosystem has made smartphones a primary medium through which Generation Z engages for everyday life. For Muslim students in Islamic higher education (IHE), however, intensive digital engagement often interrupts worship within the framework of spiritual purification (tazkiyah al-nafs). While prior research has linked religiosity to mental health and emotion regulation, studies of tazkiyah al-nafs—typically located in character education and counseling—have seldom provided an empirical typology of smartphone-based digital distraction or clarified its mechanisms in shaping ḥuḍūr al-qalb (concentration, attentiveness). This study aims to: (1) identify digital-activity typologies among Generation Z Muslim students and (2) map smartphone-based digital distractions and how they work as distraction mechanisms in students’ everyday lives. Using a qualitative phenomenological design and Reflexive Thematic Analysis (RTA), data were generated through in-depth interviews, observation, participants’ reflective notes, and focus group discussions (FGDs). Trustworthiness was strengthened through data-source triangulation, member checking, audit trails, and researcher reflexivity. The findings identified five dominant digital-activity typologies: short-form video content, instant messaging, live streaming, online gaming, and repetitive notification checking. Distraction operates through layered mechanisms—sensory interruption, cognitive disruption, time distortion, device proximity, and ritual multitasking—fragmenting attention, weakening khushū’ (humility), and destabilizing of the heart. Consequently, these dynamics tend to orient the soul toward reactive patterns rather than tranquility. This study offers an empirical mapping of digital distraction within an Al-Ghazālīan Sufi framework and highlights the importance of integrating attention-discipline training with institutional approaches to smartphone governance in IHE.