He said, “O my son, do not relate your vision to your brothers, lest they plot and scheme against you. Satan is man's sworn enemy.

.  قَالَ يَا بُنَيَّ لَا تَقْصُصْ رُؤْيَاكَ عَلَىٰ إِخْوَتِكَ فَيَكِيدُوا لَكَ كَيْدًا ۖ إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ لِلْإِنْسَانِ عَدُوٌّ مُبِينٌ

He said, “O my son, do not relate your vision to your brothers, lest they plot and scheme against you. Satan is man's sworn enemy.

(Quran 12:5)

Prophet Yaqoob (A.S) son, Prophet Yusuf (A.S) had a dream that the sun, the moon and eleven stars bowing down to him. Then the this ayah narrates how Yaqoob (A.S) told his son to keep this dream private. Without getting into the details, in short anyone can understand that this dream means something great and good.

However something critical to note in this ayah is that good things need to be kept private. A lesson perhaps we all need constant reminders of while being engrossed in social media. Lets contemplate on this single ayah. Yaqoob (A.S) was very protective of his sons Yusuf (A.S) and Bin Yamin (A.S). The moment he heard this dream from his son, he knew what it meant. He did not want his son to be afflicted by the evil eye or the evil plot his step brothers would make after hearing this.

Ibn Abbas reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “The evil eye is true. If anything could outrun the decree, it would be outran by the evil eye. When you perform a ritual bath, wash well.”

Source: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2188

The evil eye and its effects are multiplied in today's world due to how much publicity each and every event of our life gets with the use of social media. Can we take a moment to contemplate how real this is if it can outrun the decree?  The question is , why do we feel the need and urge to post pictures of every single celebration of our life, announce our love for our spouses and children over social media, when this was not even a part of the Sunnah. We have let this habit destroy ourself in more than one way. Sometimes people become addcited to the number of likes/thumbs up and compliments they receive. Sometimes people are envied by others and the blessings are affected and sometimes people depend so much on this instant gratification that any change in these responses will depress them.

While there might be some people who will rejoice in your joy, there are others who might be feeling envious, sad or depressed at what you are celebrating. 

Just to slow down and think about what thoughts you are causing to arise in the watcher's eyes by openly displaying your blessings on social media and without even realizing , we are causing harm upon ourselves with our own hands. Why did Yaqoob (A.S) conceal this blessed dream of his son and ask his son to do the same? Why did Allah then mention this to us specifically? What lesson do we draw from this ayah. 

Abdullah ibn Sarjis reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, would say when he traveled, “O Allah, you are the companion on the journey and the caretaker of the family. O Allah, accompany us on our journey and take care of our families. I seek refuge in you from the hardship of travel, returning in sorrow, loss after gain, the supplication of the oppressed, and the evil glance at our families and property.”

The Rasool SAWS constantly made dua for protection from all evil by reading the muwadhatayn ( the last 3 Surahs of the Quran). While it is important to read this for protection, we also need to take physical actions , such as concealing our blessings to complement the dua we make. We make dua and we also do our part. Satan is a sworn enemy to man. This is how the ayah ends, Why? Because Satan is looking for ways to destroy Insaan. One way is to cause ill feelings within each other for one another's blessings. Are we going to assist the Satan in causing discord and destroy harmony within our community by the act of displaying our blessings for envious eyes to devour?