United Nation of Islam

The United Nation of Islam (UNOI) is a religious group based in Kansas City, Kansas. It was founded circa 1978 as a breakaway group from Elijah Muhammad's Nation of Islam by Royall Jenkins, who continues to be the leader of the group and styles himself "Royall, Allah in Person", in defiance of the teachings of all mainstream Islamic groups and the original Nation of Islam.

History

Royall Jenkins was born in 1942 in South Carolina and grew up in eastern Maryland, later moving to New York and then Chicago, while working as a long-distance truck driver delivering publications of the Nation of Islam. He remained a member until after the death of Elijah Muhammad, but split from the organization in 1978 after its leaders rebuffed his claims of being Allah. According to Jenkins, he spent the years from 1978-1991 on a spaceship with angels learning that he was the Supreme Being and about how to govern the world [ [http://unitednationofislam.com/nationbuilding/index.html nationbuilding ] ] . Public records show Jenkins working as a truck driver and living mostly with friends as he tried to recruit followers, including his daughter Maureen, who joined him in 1985 in a house in Waldorf, Maryland, that was rented for them by Joseph Kelly, one of Jenkins' first converts. The UNOI eventually grew, and was incorporated as a nonprofit in New Jersey in 1993.

Between 1996 and 2002, the group relocated to their current Kansas City location [Donovan Corrigan, "Your community ... in renewal", Kansas City Star, 2004-05-12] .

Beliefs

The beliefs of the United Nation of Islam are based on the beliefs of the Nation of Islam, with considerable modifications by Jenkins. While believing that W.D. Fard was Allah in person, Jenkins claims that Fard was the Original Allah, referred to in the Qu'ran, and that Jenkins himself is the New Allah, who is more powerful and who is given the task of coercing the submission of all things and perfecting everything used to magnify Him, after which "men" [specifically males] will all be God, [ [http://unoi.org/forums/index.php?topic=32.0 Allah - By Royall, Allah In Person ] ] or will be "Gods" [ [http://unoi.org/forums/index.php?topic=755.0 Being One With The Man-Royall, Allah In Person July 26, 2005 ] ] .

Jenkins stresses the relations between different races and sexes, referring extensively to Black Man, Black Woman, and White Man. Black men are said to be the real and original men [ [http://unoi.org/forums/index.php?topic=662.0 Being a Man - By Royall, Allah In Person - December 12, 2004 ] ] , whereas white people are claimed to have been created by a scientist named Yakub 8,000 years ago, the same belief held, at least in a metaphorical sense, by followers of the Nation of Islam prior to the death of Elijah Muhammed. Jenkins also claims that black men created black women as 'a natural pleasure', that women are inferior, and that following female guidance leads to Hell. [ [http://unoi.org/forums/index.php?topic=94.0 The Sure Way To Hell - By Royall, Allah In Person-June 18, 2 ] ] He believes that black women are in league with white men, whom he considers enemies, and condemns women seeking child support, custody, and alimony though courts. [ [http://unoi.org/forums/index.php?topic=736.0 Woe, to the Black Woman, Part I-By Royall, Allah In Person ] ] [http://unoi.org/forums/index.php?board=4.0 Center Page !!! ] ]

Jenkins also claims that the current Nation of Islam has been led astray by its leader Louis Farrakhan who he asserts is the most "formidable enemy to Allah," [ [http://unoi.org/forums/index.php?topic=102.0 Divine Judgement - By ROYALL, Allah in Person ] ] and that Farrakhan uses tricks and deceptive tactics to "silence anyone else's voice" and "prepare the masses to fight for him," through appearing "to be against the Whiteman ["sic"] and his government." [ [http://unoi.org/forums/index.php?topic=27.0 Louis Farrakhan's War Tactics - By Royall, Allah In Person ] ]

Operations

Members of the UNOI work as volunteers in various businesses owned by the organization. UNOI-owned businesses include a full-service gas station (Your Gas Station), several restaurants and bakeries, a sewing factory, an urgent-care medical facility (Your Colonic Center) and a construction company, among others.cite news
first =Abraham
last =McLaughlin
title =Bringing Allah to urban renewal,
url =http://www.csmonitor.com/1999/1201/p1s3.html
work =column
publisher =The Christian Science Monitor
pages =1
page =1
date= 1999-12-01
language =English] UNOI claims that it provides for all the needs of all full-time volunteers. The group has roughly 200 full-time members in Kansas City, with perhaps 300 spread across several other cities. Most of the latter are part-time.cite news
last =Johnson
first =Allie
coauthors =
title =Heaven Is Hell
work =
pages =
language =
publisher ="The Pitch"
date =2003-03-27
url =http://www.pitch.com/2003-03-27/news/heaven-is-hell/full
accessdate = 2007-10-20]

UNOI hosts several call-in TV and radio programs across the United States. Jenkins appears regularly on these programs, as well as touring various US cities. The UNOI also offers classes and has a website providing extensive writings by Jenkins.

After moving to Kansas City in 1996 (although its headquarters was not moved there until 2001), UNOI received commendations for apparently aiding in the renewal of an area along Quindaro Boulevard that had a reputation for high crime rates and as a slum . The group purchased several properties in the area at minimal prices and used them to house its various businesses. As this happened, crime rates fell dramatically and property values rose.cite news
first =Carmen
last =Cardinal
title =Rebirth in Quindaro United Nation of Islam focuses on doing it 'right'
url =http://www.unitednationofislam.com/inthenews/inthenews_014.htm
format =Reprint
work =column
publisher =The Kansas City Kansan
pages =2
page =3
date= 1997-03-05
language =English] [Donovan Corrigan, "Your community...in renewal," "Kansas City Star", 2004-05-12] Commendations extended to the Wyandotte County government donating several additional (vacant) buildings to UNOI.

Controversy

Critics of 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 Jenkins and a small group of close family/allies use UNOI funds for their own benefit (including, e.g., free vacations in the Caribbean). UNOI leaders also censor mail and monitor long-distance telephone calls. Furthermore, UNOI members and their children are required to be educated by UNOI, which does not instruct them in many basic skills or provide opportunity for higher education. Members do not receive health insurance and are not permitted to receive medical care outside that offered by 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.

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 says it is 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 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 UNOI for six months, and then became a critic of its operations. Moreen Jenkins joined the UNOI in 1985. She claims that her father ordered her to marry Joseph Kelly, one of the first members of UNOI, and also forced her to study UNOI theology for several hours a day for three years. In 1997, Royall Jenkins declared that Kelly was a reincarnation of Elijah Muhammad (the Nation of Islam rejected this claim), causing the marriage to disintegrate. Moreen Jenkins also claims that, in 2002, after she attempted to intercede with her father to apologize to the victim of a beating by UNOI members, he threatened her life and that of her youngest child. At this point, she took the infant and left UNOI. She has also claimed continued harassment from UNOI members, and that the UNOI has been 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.

The UNOI has stated that Moreen Jenkins is "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 ["sic"] —including Black women—will no longer be tolerated' [UNOI Web site]

External links

* [http://unitednationofislam.com/index.html UNOI Web site]
* [http://unoi.org/forums UNOI forums]

References