A TV commercial that aimed to show how Egyptian people’s donations were used to make a difference in the lives of people in need was accused of humiliating the poor. It has also rekindled a debate on whether commercials that showed the poor and needy were the best or the most ethical way to ask for donations.

The commercial showed dirty water bottles carried by a woman called Afaf, who lives in Beni Suef in Upper Egypt, explaining to actress Dalal Abdel Aziz the difficulties of bringing water to her family. The commercial then invited the public to donate money to Beit al-Zakat (House of Alms) so that families like Afaf’s can have access to water.

Beit al-Zakat, which is affiliated with Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam’s oldest seat of learning, ran the commercial to point to concrete cases of how the foundation uses people’s donations. The sheikh of Al-Azhar, Ahmed el-Tayeb, ordered that the commercial be taken off the air after the public dismay.

The commercial by Beit al-Zakat was only one of similar commercials that charity foundations air on TV during Ramadan, when Muslims are inclined to pay Ramadan zakat (an amount of money paid by enabled people to the poor, which is one of the holy month rituals). Seventy-five percent of donations are collected in Ramadan, according to Maissera Ellaithy, who currently leads the Corporate Social Responsibility arm of TA Telecom’s MegaKheir, an online app for charity activities. “For many charity organizations, these donations will be used for their projects most of the year, as the other months hardly match the amount gathered during this single month,” Ellaithy said.