Size: 24.5×17.5cm./9.6×6.8inch.
Weight: 880gr./31oz.
Year: 2003
Pages: 406
 
 
Book made in Turkmenistan, 2003, in the Turkmen language. Ruhnama written by Saparmyrat Turkmenbasy the leader of Turkmenistan at the time.
The Ruhnama, or Rukhnama, translated into English as Book of the Soul, is a two volume work written by Saparmurat Niyazov, the president of Turkmenistan from 1990 to 2006.
It was intended to serve as a tool of state propaganda, emphasising the basis of the Turkmen nation. Niyazov first placed copies in the nation’s schools and libraries but eventually went as far as to make an exam on its teachings an element of the driving test. It was mandatory to read Ruhnama in schools, universities and governmental organisations. New governmental employees were tested on the book at job interviews. After the death of Niyazov in December 2006, its popularity remained high.
Niyazov received a prophetic vision where Turkmen ancestors of eminence urged him to lead Turkmens to the “golden path of life”.
The first version was released in the 1990s but soon withdrawn because it did not fulfill Niyazov’s expectations. Preparations for the revised book were underway as early as April 1999, when Niyazov declared that Mukkadesh Ruhnama would be the second landmark text of Turkmens, after the Quran. The first volume was finally published in December 2001.
In September 2004, Niyazov issued a second volume. Drafted with explicit parallels to the Quran, this volume asked that the Ruhnama be recited as regular prayer after purifying oneself. Thematically, the volume is concerned with morals and ethics. A total of 21 chapters deal with optimum manners and decorum for different situations and target audience.