Introduction

One interpretation of the behavior of the terrorists of 9/11 that has been commonly made is that they were motivated by religious belief. This interpretation was given credence by the evidence presented by Kanin Makiya and Hassan Mneimneh (2002), who described a manual apparently used by the hijackers, parts of which were found in the wreckage of one of the planes involved, and as well in a piece of Muhammad Atta's luggage, which, by accident, was not loaded on the plane at Logan airport. The manual consisted of instructions to the would-be martyrs that framed the act they were to undertake entirely as if it were to be done “to please God” (Makiya and Mneimneh 2002, p. 20), and there was no mention of any other motive or issue such as Palestine, Iraq, or U.S. global domination. Of course one could argue that the manuals were deliberately planted. But if the motives of the hijackers were more secular, what would be the point of planting such a manual?

In what follows I am going to assume that people such as those who carried out the 9/11 bombings are rational in the standard economic sense of that term, and ask if we can explain first why it is that rational people would adopt religious beliefs, and why and under what circumstances they might even be willing to sacrifice their lives for these beliefs. Thus this chapter explores aspects of the supply of this kind of terrorist activity.