Do birthday and wedding anniversary parties have any basis in Islam?

Question

The Link:

http://arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=113092&d=20&m=8&y=2008&pix=kingdom.jpg&category=Kingdom

The Story:

JEDDAH: Celebrating birthdays and wedding anniversaries has no base in Islam, Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Alsheikh has said.

The mufti made the comments while answering a question from Al-Madinah newspaper after prominent Qassim-based scholar Salman Al-Oadah issued a fatwa saying that celebrating such occasions was not against the rules of Shariah.

“Such a call is against righteousness. A Muslim should thank Almighty Allah if his children are healthy and if his married life is stable as the years pass by. He should say: Alhamdu Lillah for His generosity and kindness,” said Al-Alsheikh, who is also the chairman of the Council of Senior Scholars and the head of the Presidency for Scientific Research and Religious Edicts (Dar Al-Ifta).

Answer 1

No, Islam dosnt exactly support wedding anniversary's or birthday celebrations such as cutting cakes, blowing out candles etc :)

but Islam says that your have to be thankful for those days, so group prayers are alright.  

Answer 2

I am certainly not an expert, but I have always been under the impression that you're not supposed to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, etc. in Islamic culture because you're supposed to be thankful for those things every day of the year.  Plus, I think the argument  that by celebrating someone's birthday or anniversary, or any "human" occasion, it removes focus from Allah and that is supposed to be wrong.  Like I said, I'm not an expert, so don't take my word for it, but this is my impression of the whole subject.