The name of the foundation translates as ‘goodness’ in Arabic. The AKF began as an
Islamic school in
Croydon in 2003, evolving into a service organisation focusing on education and charity work in the UK.
Qasim Ahmad founded the
AKF School, which began in 2003 with five pupils. The sports hall was previously a converted warehouse and the school itself was previously an office. By 2013, the school grew into a
primary and
secondary school with over 350 pupils. This led to AKF building schools overseas. Later, AKF launched their water aid, medical aid, and livelihood programmes. In 2005, AKF launched their first relief venture to provide emergency aid during the
Kashmir earthquake. AKF's relief teams provided survivors with medicine, food, shelter kits and moral support. AKF has supported the victims of many earthquakes, including the
Haiti earthquake and
Pakistan floods of 2010, the horn of Africa famine relief, and the
Japan earthquake of 2011. Their work in Haiti was recognised by the
United Nations in 2010, and they were the only UK Muslim charity working with survivors on the ground in the
Japan earthquake of 2011. In 2020,
The Times published allegations by
Notis Mitarachi,
Greek Minister for Migration, that the foundation had colluded with
human traffickers. The foundation brought
legal action against the Times and the newspaper subsequently published a full apology. In 2023,
Matthew Levitt alleged in
U.S. Senate Committee on Banking testimony that the foundation had set up pro-
Hamas crowdfunding websites. In July 2024, an
Israel Defense Forces strike in Gaza killed Hossam Mansour, who served as a director for AKF. In March 2025, the foundation announced that an Israeli drone strike had killed several of their volunteer aid workers and two independent journalists in
Gaza. == Activities ==