Religion and Terrorism: Evidence from Ramadan Fasting

Roland Hodler, Paul Raschky and Anthony Strittmatter

Papers from arXiv.org

Abstract: We study the effect of religion and intense religious experiences on terrorism by focusing on one of the five pillars of Islam: Ramadan fasting. For identification, we exploit two facts: First, daily fasting from dawn to sunset during Ramadan is considered mandatory for most Muslims. Second, the Islamic calendar is not synchronized with the solar cycle. We find a robust negative effect of more intense Ramadan fasting on terrorist events within districts and country-years in predominantly Muslim countries. This effect seems to operate partly through decreases in public support for terrorism and the operational capabilities of terrorist groups.

Date: 2018-10, Revised 2020-03
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Journal Article: Religion and terrorism: Evidence from Ramadan fasting (2024)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:arx:papers:1810.09869

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