United Nation of Islam - Controversy

Controversy

Critics of the UNOI note that members work for Jenkins' benefit in UNOI businesses and receive no income, apply for and receive welfare from the government, and are given only the minimal necessities for survival, while UNOI use the funds for their own benefit (including free vacations in the Caribbean). UNOI members and their children are required to be educated by the UNOI, which instruct them in many basic skills or provide opportunity for accredited higher education. Members receive health insurance and are permitted to receive medical care outside that offered by the UNOI at Your Colonic Center, which does not include any physicians licensed in Kansas. At least one child of UNOI members has died without being taken to Kansas City emergency medical services.

The UNOI has also overstated its success—on one occasion stating that the Kansas City site is free of all crime, in the same month as a gunman fired twenty shots at a UNOI-run gas station. The Kansas City police department said it was unable to judge the effectiveness of UNOI in reducing crime. In 2002, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported five health violations at a UNOI-operated diner. In 2003, the gas station was the UNOI's only profitable business.

Jenkins has also taken several wives from among his followers, including a teenaged stepdaughter (after having impregnated her). From these unions, he has fathered at least 15 children. Jenkins claims that he is justified in practicing polygamy, comparing himself to Solomon and claiming "In the near future, a man will be known for his wisdom according to the number of wives that he has."

Notable among the UNOI's critics are over 10 former members, including Moreen and Hanif Jenkins, two of Royall Jenkins' children from his first marriage. Hanif Jenkins was only a member of the UNOI for six months and then became a critic of its operations. Moreen Jenkins joined the UNOI in 1985. She claimed that she marry Joseph Kelly, one of the first members of the UNOI, and also study UNOI theology for several hours a day for years. In 1997, Royall Jenkins declared that Kelly was a reincarnation of Elijah Muhammad, a claim that the Nation of Islam rejected. Ms. Jenkins also claimed that, in 2002, after she attempted to intercede with her father to apologize to the victim of a beating by UNOI members, he threatened the lives of her and her youngest child. At this point, she took the infant and left UNOI. She experienced continued harassment from UNOI members, and stated that the UNOI was blocking her attempts to communicate with her other children and her attempts to gain custody of them. As of 2003, she had filed for divorce and still sought custody of her children. Ms. Jenkins died at her home on October 14, 2008, shortly after her 45th birthday.

In 2003, the UNOI stated that Ms. Jenkins was "operating out of vengeance, scorn, anger, desire and treachery" and proposed that she seduced reporters with "the guise of a scoop." In the same statement, Royall Jenkins is quoted as announcing “the time when those who conspire against the rise of the Blackman —including Black women—will no longer be tolerated." After her death, Jenkins described his daughter as a traitor, stated "the death of my daughter Moreen was more than justified" and exhorted his followers not to mourn.