Mercy Foundation was formerly known as Academic Institute of Shompashi, named after the institution which His Eminence Shaikh Hafiz Amir Hussain founded in 1972. Initially the idea was to set up a charity with the aim of serving the orphans and their needs i.e. education, accommodation, and other needs of the institution. However, with the changing times and the need for greater social responsibility the founder and his son Moulana Shakir Ahmed Chowdhury felt that the charity needs to be playing a greater role and to encompass the universal diktat of charity.