Ruhnama

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Turkmenistan
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Ruhnama (or The Book of the Soul from Persian: روح ruh (soul) and نامه nāme (book), sometimes spelled Rukhnama) is the combination autobiography, historical fiction, and spiritual guidebook written by Turkmenistan's President for Life, Saparmyrat Niyazov. The text is composed of many stories and poems, including those by Sufi poet Magtymguly Pyragy.

Niyazov issued the first part of the work in 2001, saying, "Ruhnama was issued to eliminate all shortcomings, to raise the spirit of the Turkmen." The second part, which covers morals, philosophy, and life conduct, was issued in 2004. The book is a substantial part of Niyazov's personality cult, is required to be prominently displayed in Turkmen bookstores and government offices, and is required to be displayed next to the Islamic Qur'an in Turkmenistan's mosques. Leaders of some mosques refused to comply with this demand, alleging that compliance would be blasphemous, resulting in some such mosques being demolished by the state.

Ruhnama is compulsorily imposed on religious communities and society generally. The work is the main component of education from primary school to university. Knowledge of the text - up to the ability to exactly recite passages from it - is required for passing education exams, holding any state employment, and to qualify for a driving license.

Public criticism of or even insufficient reverence to the text is seen as equivalent to disrespecting the president himself, and harshly punished by dispossession, imprisonment or torture of the offender or the offender's whole family if the violation was grave enough.

In March 2006 Niyazov was recorded as saying that he had interceded with Allah to ensure that any student who reads the book three times would automatically get into paradise.

An enormous mechanical replica of the book is located in the capital; every night at 8:00PM it opens and passages are recited with accompanying video.

Questions remain about whether Niyazov actually wrote the two-volume "Ruhnama" himself. It has been translated into 30 languages.