  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.
