Our closest family members may be our enemies:

The Prophet Ya’qub said to his son Yusuf:

قَالَ یَـٰبُنَیَّ لَا تَقۡصُصۡ رُءۡیَاكَ عَلَىٰۤ إِخۡوَتِكَ
فَیَكِیدُوا۟ لَكَ كَیۡدًاۖ إِنَّ ٱلشَّیۡطَـٰنَ لِلۡإِنسَـٰنِ عَدُوࣱّ مُّبِینࣱ

‘𝗠𝘆 𝘀𝗼𝗻, 𝗱𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺, 𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗺 𝘆𝗼𝘂. 𝗦𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗻’𝘀 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗺𝘆.’ [Qur’an 12:5].

Ibn al-‘Arabi al-Maliki explained:

حكم بالعادة من الحسادة بين الإخوة والقرابة

‘𝘐𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴.’
[‘Ahkam al-Qur’an’, 3/38].

“O you who believe! Verily, among your wives and your children there are enemies for you; therefore beware of them! But if you pardon (them) and overlook, and forgive, then verily, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
[Surah At-Taghabun (64:14)]

We often think that all our family relatives are our well-wishers and that our only enemies are distant outsiders.

In reality, our closest family members, who reside within our…