CELEBRATING anniversaries, birthdays or mother's day is against the Islamic values of ‘righteousness', Saudi Arabia's top cleric has said, quashing suggestions by a colleague that Islam permits personal celebrations. Salman Al-Awdah told viewers during a call-in television show last week that celebrating birthdays and wedding anniversaries was not against Islam, sparking a debate and prompting Grand Mufti Abdul-Aziz Aal Al-Sheikh to issue a statement. The Grand Mufti said celebrating such events would make Muslims like followers of other faiths including Jews and Christians, Al-Madina newspaper reported. “A Muslim should thank Almighty Allah if his children are healthy and if his married life is stable as the years pass by,” the paper quoted him as saying. Two occasions call for celebration in the Muslim community, the Grand Mufti said: Eid Al-Fitr, which marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, and Eid Al-Adha, which marks the end of the Haj.
